The height of each terrace, above the level of the river (furthest to
nearest to the river) in feet:

A, north and south: 1,122
B, north and south: 869
C, north and south: 639
D, north: not measured. D, north? (suggest south): 185
E: 20
Bed of River.

Vertical scale 1/20 of inch to 100 feet; but terrace E, being only twenty
feet above the river, has necessarily been raised. The horizontal distances
much contracted; the distance from the edge of A North to A South being on
an average from seven to ten miles.)
I have said that the valley in its whole course is bordered by gravel-
capped plains. The section (Diagram 6), supposed to be drawn in a north and
south line across the valley, can scarcely be considered as more than
illustrative; for during our hurried ascent it was impossible to measure
all the plains at any one place. At a point nearly midway between the
Cordillera and the Atlantic, I found the plain (A north) 1,122 feet above
the river; all the lower plains on this side were here united into one
great broken cliff: at a point sixteen miles lower down the stream, I found
by measurement and estimation that B (north) was 869 above the river: very
near to where A (north) was measured, C (north) was 639 above the same
level: the terrace D (north) was nowhere measured: the lowest E (north) was
in many places about twenty feet above the river. These plains or terraces
were best developed where the valley was widest; the whole five, like
gigantic steps, occurred together only at a few points. The lower terraces
are less continuous than the higher ones, and appear to be entirely lost in
the upper third of the valley. Terrace C (south), however was traced