September 16, 1833
Cool early in the morning, [and] soon magnificent weather. Our things dried quickly. We remained here all day, until about five o’clock, and went aboard after we had eaten. A magpie was so tame that it repeatedly came quite close to us; we very clearly observed the diversity in its call. I took rock samples from the blackish stone walls and towers, on and between which the brittle white sandstone is found. It contains large angular pieces, mostly cubes of a mica or feldspar aggregate. This type of rock forms the singular walls, which are split into regular cubes as though hewed stones had intentionally been placed one upon the other. They frequently alternate with white sandstone. The evening was pleasant. We sailed past the tall, rocky cone that is called the Citadel. A white wolf appeared on the bank, a bighorn to the left; we had already seen three. Toward evening a swarm of bats flew about above the shiny surface of the river; we did not want to shoot here at this time. [This] beautiful evening in the most singular region of the Stone Walls, which surrounded us with grotesque, fantastic mountain figures, was full of interest to us. With the approach of night, we halted at [a] sandy expanse below a steep bank. I had the first watch and was entertained not a little by the howling of wolves on the opposite bank. For a long time the great horned owl (Strix virginiana) called out its melancholy “Hoo! Hoo! Hoo!”