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Show .. 18 EXPLORATION OF THE OARONS OF THE COLORA DO. fall. One great cubical block, thirty or forty feet high, stands in the middle of the ~:~tl·eam, and the waters, parting to either side, plunge down about twelve feet, and are broken again by the smaller rocks into a rapid below. Immediately below the falls, the water occupies the entire channel, the1'<~ being no talus at the foot of the cliffs. We embark, and run down a short distance, where we find a landing-place for dinner. · On the waves again all the afternoon. Near the lower end of this canon, to which we have given the name Red Canon, is a little park, where streams come down from distant mountain summits, and enter tho river on either side; and here we camp for the night under two stately pines. June 3.-This morning we spread our rations, clothes, &c., on the ground to dry, and several of the party go out for a hunt. I take a walk of five or six miles up to a pine grove park, its grassy carpet bedecked with . crimson, velvet flowers, set in groups on the stems of pear shaped cactus plants; patches of painted cups are seen here and there, with yellow blossoms protruding tl:u·ough scarlet bracts; little blue-eyed flowers are peeping through the grass; and the air is filled with fragrance from the white blossoms of a Spircea. A mountain brook runs through the midst, ponded below by beaver dams. It is a quiet place for retirement from the raging waters of the cafion. It will be remembered that the course of the river, from Flaming Gorge to Beehive Point, is in a southerly direction, and at right angles to the Uinta Mountains, and cuts into the range until it reaches a point within five miles of the crest, where it turns to the east, and pursues a course not quite parallel to the trend of the range, but crosses the axis slowly in a direction a little south of east. Thus there is a triangular tract between the river and the axis of the mountain, with its acute angle extending eastward. I climb a mountain overlooking this countt·y. To the east, the peaks are not very high, and already most of the snow has melted ; but little patches lie here and there under the lee of ledges of rock. To the west, the peaks grow higher and the snow fields larger. Between the brink of the canon and the foot of these peaks, there is a high bench. A numbe1· of creeks have their sources in the snow banks to the south, and run north into the canon, tum- SWALLOW CARON. 19 bling down from 3,000 to 5,000 feet in a distance of five or six miles. Along their upper courses, they run through grassy valleys ; but, as they approacl1 Red Cation, they rapidly disappear under the general stu-face of tho country, and emerge into the canon below in deep, dark gorges of their own. Each of those short lateral canons is marked by a succession of cascades and a wild confusion of rocks and trees and fallen timber and thick undergrowth. The little valleys above are beautiful parks ; between the parks are stately pine forests, half hiding ledges of red sandstone. Mule-deer and elk abound; grizzly bears, too, ar& abundant; wild cats, wolverines, and mountain lions are here at homo. "rhe forest aisles are filled with the music of birds, and the parks are decked with flowers. Noisy brooks meander through them ; ledges of moss covered rocks are seen ; and gleaming in the distance are the snow fields, and the mountain tops are away in t~e clouds. June 4.-We start early and run through to Brown's Park. Half way down the valley, a spur of a red mountain stretches across the river, which cuts a canon through it. Here the walls are comparatively low, but vertical. A vast number of swallows have built their adobe houses on the face of the cliffs, on either side of the river. The waters arc deep and quiet, but the swallows are swift and noisy enough, sweeping by in their curved paths through the air, or chattering from the rocks. The young birds stretch their little heads on naked necks through the doorways of their mud houses, clamoring for food. They are a noisy people. We call this Swallow Canon. Still down the river we glide, until an early hour in the afternoon, when we go into camp under a giant cottonwood, standing on the right bank, a little way back from the stream. The party had succeeded in killing a fine lot of wild ducks, and during the afternoon a mess of fish is taken. June 5.-With one of the men, I climb a mountain, off on the right. A long spur, with broken ledges of rock, puts down to the river; and along its course, or up the "hog-back," as it is called, I make the ascent. Dunn, who is climbing to the same point, is coming up the gulch. Two hours' bard work has brought us to the summit. · These mountains are all verdure clad; pine and cedar forests are set on green terraces; snow clad mountains |