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Show 36 EXPLOitATION 01•' 1'IIN OANONS OF 'flll!1 COLOHADO. canon is much narrower than any we have seen. With difficulty we manage our boats. They spin about from side to side, and we know not where we are going, and find it impossible to keep them headed down the stream. At first, this causes us great alarm, but we soon find there is but little danger, and that there is a general movement of progression down the river, to which this whirling is but an adjunct; and it is the merry mood of the river to dance through this deep, dark gorge; and right gaily do wo join in the sport. Soon our revel is interrupted by a cataract; its roaring command is heeded by all our power at the oars, and wo pull against the whirling current. Tho "Emma Dean" is brought up against a cliff, about fifty feet above tho brink of the fall. lly vigorous! y plying tho oars on the side opposite the wall, as if to pull up stream, we can hold her against tho rock. Tho boats behind arc signaled to land where they can. Tho "Maid of tho Canon" is pulled to the left wall, and, by constant rowing, they can hold her also. Tho "Sister" is rnn into an alcove on the right, wlwro an eddy is in a dauco, and in this she joins. Now my little boat is held against the wall only by the utmost exertion, and it is impos iblc to make headway against tho current. On examination, I find a horizontal crevice in tho rock, about ten foot above the water, and a boat's length below us, so we let her down to that point. One of the men clambers into the crevice, in which he can just crawl; we toss him the line, which he makes fast in the rocks, and now our boat is tied up. Then I follow into the crovico, and we crawl along a distance of fifty feet, or more, up stl·eam, and find a broken place, where wo can climb about fifty feet higher. llere we stand on a shelf, that passes along down stream to a point above the falls, where it is broken down, and a pile of rocks, over which we can descend to the river, is lying against the foot of the cliff. It has boon mentioned that one of the boats is on the other side. I signal for the mon to pull her up alongside of the wall, but it cannot be done; then to cross. This they do, gaining tho wall on our side just above where the "Emma Dean" is tied. The third boat is out of sight, whirling in tho eddy of a recess. Look~ ng about, I find another horizontal m·evice, along which I crawl to a point JUSt over the water, where this boat is 1 y ing, all(}, calling loud. and long, I \ . . I ' AN EXHILARATING RIDE. 37 finally succeed in making the crew understand that I want them to lwing the boat down, hugging the wall. This they accomplish, by taking advantage of every crevice and knob on the face of tho cliff, so that wo have tho three boats together at a point a few yards above tho falls. Now, by pas - ing a line up on tho shelf, the boats can be Jot down to tho broken rocks below. This we do, and, making a short portage, our troubles hero aro over. Below the falls, the canon is wider, and there is more or le s space between the river and tho walls; but tho stream, though wide, is rapid, and rolls at a femful rate among tho rocks. Wo proceed with great caution, and run the large boats altogether by signal. At night we camp at the month of a small creek, which affords us a good supper of trout. In camp, to-night, wo discuss tho propriety of several different names for this canon. At the fallez, encountered at noon, its characteristics chango suddenly. Above, it is very na~Tow, and tho walls are almost vertical; below, the canon is much wider, and more flaring; and, high up on the sides, crags, pinnacles, and towers are con. A n. umber of wild ' naiTow side canons enter, and tho walls aro much broken. After many sug-gestions, our choice rests between two name., Whirlpool Canon and Craggy Canon, neither of which is strictly appropriate for both parts of it; bnt wo leave the discussion at this point, with tho understanding that it is host, before finally deciding on a name, to wait until wo seo what the canon is below. June 22.-Still making short portages and lotting down with lines. While we are waiting for dinner to-day, I climb a point that gives me a good viow of the river for two or three miles below, and I think wo can make a long run. After dinner, we start; tho largo boats are to follow in fifteen minutes, and look out for the signal to land. Into tho middl of tho stream we row, and down the rapid river wo glide, only making Htrokos enough with the oars to guide tho boat. What a headlong ride it is r shooting past rocks and islands r I am soon .. filled with exhilaration only experienced before in riding a fleet horse over tho outstretched prairie. One, two, three, four miles wo go, rearing and plunging with tho waves, until we wheel to the right into a beautiful park, and lavd on an i ·land, wh ro we go into camp. |
