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Show ' Figuro 7 .- Pa'-l'i-aLI:l. I J - ... ASHLEY FALLS. 17 looking between them to the heavens, "the rocks h-e-a-p, h-e-a-p high; the water go h-oo-woogh, h-oo-woogh; water-pony (boat) h-e-a-p buck; water catch 'em; no see 'em Injun any more r no see 'em squaw any more I no see 'em pappoose any more I" 'rhose who have seen these wild Indian ponies roaring alternately before and behind, or "bucking," as it is called in the. vernacular, will appreciate his description. At last we come to calm water, and a threatening roar is heard in the distance. Slowly approaching the point whence the sound issues, we come near to falls, and tie up just above them on the left. IIere we will be compelled to make a portage; so we unload the boats, and fasten a long line to the bow, and another to the stern, of the smaller one, and moor her close to tho b1~ink of the fall. Then the bow-line is taken below, and made fast; the stern line is held by five or six men, and the boat let down as long as they can hold her against the rushing waters ; then, letting go one end of the line, it runs through the ring ; the boat leaps over the fall, and is caught by the lower rQpe. Now we rest for the night. June 2.-This morning we make a trail among the rocks, transport the cargoes to a point below the falls, let the remaining boats over, and are ready to start before noon. On a high rock by which the trail passes we find the inscription : "Ashley 18-5." The third figure is obscure-some of the party reading it 1835, some 1855. James Baker, an old time mountaineer, once told me about a party of men starting down the river, and Ashley was named as one. The story runs that· the boat was swamped, and some of the party drowned in one of the canons below. The word "Ashley" is a warning to us, and we resolve on great caution. Ashley Falls is the name we give to the cataract. The river is very narrow; the right wall vertical for two or three hundred feet, the left towering to a great height, with a vast pile of broken rocks lying between the foot of the cliff and the water. Some of the rocks broken down from the ledge above have tumbled iuto the channel and caused this 3 OOL |
