The Great Prairie, bearing from hence to the north-east, is said to be 40 miles distant, and there is likewise a continuation of open plains or small prairies, from hence to the Cadron settlement. White river lies about 100 miles distant to the north.
In the course of the day we passed the sixth Pine Bluff, behind which appeared the first prominent hill that occurs to view on the banks of the Arkansa. The fasçade or cliffs, in which it terminates on the bank of the river, is called the Little Rock,[123] as it is the first stone which occurs in place. The river, no longer so tediously meandering, here presents a stretch of six miles in extent, proceeding to the west of north-west. In the evening we arrived at Mr. Hogan's,[124] or the settlement of the Little Rock, opposite to which appear the cliffs, formed of a dark greenish coloured, fine-grained, slaty, sandstone, mixed with {105} minute scales of mica, forming what geologists commonly term the grauwacke slate, and declining beneath the surface at a dip or angle of not less than 45° from the horizon. The hills appear to be elevated from 150 to 200 feet above the level of the river, and are thinly covered with trees.
There are a few families living on both sides, upon high, healthy, and fertile land; and about 22 miles from Hogan's, there is another settlement of nine or ten families situated towards the sources of Saline creek of the Washita,[125]*
