Very great quantities of
agates and jasper, mostly in small pieces, but unlimited variety, are to
be seen in portions of the Bad Lands, south of the fork of the Cheyenne
River, with an almost equal abundance of baculites and numerous other
fossils.
The wide expanse of deep ravines and sharp, barren ridges in the Bad
Lands is a unique departure from the usual phases of natural scenery
that inspire interest and wonder, but no great admiration, until one
soon learns that the law of compensation has been strictly observed. The
beauty of vegetation denied those desolate buttes and ridges is atoned
for by a marvelous abundance of most wonderful crystals of aragonite,
calcite, barite and satin spar; each to itself, or two or more combined
in beautiful geodes or else arranged in great flat slabs crystallized on
both sides of a thin sheet of lime. These slabs are composed of crystals
of uniform size and of a pale green tint. But the geodes show some
striking combinations of both crystals and colors with an exterior
formed like box work, composed of a very heavy dark material said to be
a mixture of barium, calcium and iron. The interior may be a bright
green or lemon yellow, or perhaps the two in combination, while others
yet may be either of these varieties with the addition of flat crystals
of almost transparent satin spar.
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