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Show Record 2575 named the party also included Arthur Powell Davis. The survey of certain dam sites made on the trip was more or less incidental. My most distinct recollection of the first day on the river was the enormous accumulation of luggage that we found we could 2576 carry in our boats. We made a very impressive departure and nothing happened until we passed the first bend, when Bill Jones' motor hit something and went out of order. Shortly there 2577 after my motor quit. We made six or seven miles the first day, in which we met with no serious sand bar trouble, except those occasioned by the faults of our own navigation. Rocks and swirls and being carried against banks did not bother me or one or two of the others. On the second day we camped at Waweep Creek and I would say that on our first two days we did not make more than ten miles a day upstream. I recall very little difficulty 2578 from sand bars on the second day. I recall a very spectacular cloudburst when we were at Waweep; but it had no effect on the river that I recall. Next day there was another very spec- 2579 tacular storm. This resulted in only a very slight rise of the river, although there followed twisting air currents which bothered 2580 us in navigation. At Crossing of the Fathers we had averaged ten miles a day, making better speed the last two days than the first two. Mr. Wimmer, being rather more familiar with the river and a little better hand with the outboard motors, would usually get ahead of us and then would come back to help someone along. 2581 Silt and sharp sand caused me more motor trouble than I had ever had before with that type of motor. Mr. Wimmer had warned me that a plunger pumps was entirely useless and he didn't even at-tempt to erect pumps. He showed me the practical way out of the difficulty; and, as in most things about the river, he was right. 2582 Following Wimmer's advice, I rigged up a five- gallon oil can on the stern, with a rubber pipe to the cylinders, which he has pro-vided for such an emergency; then as we navigated I dipped up water into the oil can, which ran down around the cylinders by |
