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Show 20 EXPLORATION OF TITE OAilONS OF TilE OOLORADO. are seen in the distance, to the west; tho plains of the upper Green stretch out before us, to the north, until they aro lost in tho blue heavens; but half of the river cleft range intervenes, and the river itself is at our feet. rrhis half range, beyond the river, is composed of long ridges, nearly parallel with the valley. On the farther ridge, to tho north, four creeks have their sources. These cut through tho intervening ridges, one of which is much higher than that on which they head, by canon gorges; then they run, with gentle curves, across the valley, their banks set with willows, boxelders, and cottonwood groves. To the east, we look up the valley of tho Vermilion, tln·ough which Fremont found his path on his way to tho great parks of Colorado. rrhe reading of the barometer taken, wo start down in company, and reach camp tired and hungry, which does not abate one bit our enthusiasm, as we tell of the day's work, with its glory of landscape. June 6.-At daybreak, I am awakened by a chorus of birds. It seems as if all the feathered songsters of the region have come to tho old tree. Several species of warblers, woodpeckers, and flicker~ above, meadow-larks in tho grass, and wild geese in the river. I recline on my elbow, and watch a lark near by, and then awaken my bed fellow, to Iiston to my Jenny Lind. A morning concert for me; none of your "matinees.'' Our cook has been an ox-driver, or ''bull-whacker," on the plains, in one of those long trains now no longer soen, and he hasn't forgotten his old ways. In the midst of the concert, his voice breaks in: "Roll out! roll out! bulls in the corral! chain up the gaps! Roll out! roll out! roll out!" And this is our breakfast bell. To-day we pass tln·ough the park, and camp at the head of another calion. Juf}e 7.-To day, two or three of us climb to the summit of tho cliff, . on the left, and find its altitude, above camp, to be 2,086 feet. rrho rocks are split with fissures, deep and narrow, sometimes a hundred foot, or moro, to the bottom. Lofty pines find root in tho fissures that arc filled with loose earth and decayed vegetation. On a rock we find a pool of clear, cold water, caught from yesterday evening's shower. After a good drink, we walk out to tho brink of tho canon, and look down to tho water DISTANOES AND TIEIGHTS. 21 below. I can do this now, but it has taken several years of mountain climbing to cool my nerves, so that I can sit, with my foot over the odgo, and calmly look down a precipice 2,000 feet. And yet I cannot look on and sec another do the same. I must either bid him como away, or turn my bead. The canon walls arc buttressed on a grand scale, with deep alcoves intervening; columned crags crown tho cHifs, and tho river is rolling below. When we retmn to camp, at noon, tho sun shines in splendor on vermilion walls, shaded into green and gray, where tho rocks arc lichenod over; tho river fills tho channel from wall to wall, and the canon opens, liko a beautiful portal, to a region of glory. Tlus evening, as I write, the sun is going down, and the shadows arc settling in the cm1on. The vermilion gleams and roseate hues, blending with the green and gray tints, arc slowly changing to somber brown above, and black shadows arc creeping over them below; and now it is a dark portal to a region of gloom-tho gateway through which we are to ontor on our voyage of exploration to-morrow. What ~hall wo find Y . Tho distance from Flaming Gorge to Beohi vo Point is nino and two-thirds miles. Besides, passing thr?ugh tho gorge, tho river runs through II or ·eshoe and Kingfisher Canons, separated by short valleys. Tho hlghest point on the wallsJ at I! laming Gorge, is 1,300 foot above tho river. The cast wall, at the apex of Tiorseshoo Canon, is about 1,600 feet above the water's odge, and, from tlris point, the walls slope both to the head and foot of the canon. Kingfisher Canon, starting at the water's edge above, steadily increases in altitude to 1,200 foet at tho foot. HeJ Canon is twonty-fivo and two-thirds miles long, and the highest wall!:l arc about 2,500 foot. Brown's Park is a valley, bounded on oithor .·ide by a mountain ranrro, really an expansion of the canon. rrho river, thr ugh tho park, is thirty five and a .half miles long, but pa ses through two short canons, on its way, where spurs, fi·om tho mount<.tins on tho south, aro thrust across its course. |