| OCR Text |
Show • MEASURING THE WALLS. 47 The wind annoys us much to day. The water, rough by reason of the rapids, is 'made more so by head gales. Vvherover a great face of rock has a southern exposure, the rarified air rises, and tho wind rushes in below, either up or down tl~ calion, or botl1, causing local currents. Just at sunset, we run a bad rapid, and camp at its foot. July 9.-0ur run to day is through a cal1on, with ragged, broken walls, many lateral gulches or canons entering on either side. The river is rough, and occasionally it becomes necessary to use lines in passing rocky places. During the afternoon, we come to a rather open canon valley, stretching up toward the west, its farther end lost in the mountains. From a point to which we climb, we obtain a good view of its course, until its angular walls are lost in the vis"ta. J.uly 10.-Sumner, who is a fine mechanist, is learning to take observations for time with the sextant. To day, he remains in camp to practice. Howland and myself determine to climb out, and start up a lateral canon, taking a barometer with us, for the purpose of measuring the thickness of the strata over which we pass. The readings of a barometer below are recorded every half hour, and our observations must be simultaneouf:!. Where the beds, which we desire to measure, are very thick, we must climb with the utmost speed, to reach their summits in time. Again, where there are thinner beds, we wait for the moment to arrive; and so, by hard and easy stages, we make our way to the top of the canon wall, and reach the plateau above about two o'clock. Howland, who has his gun with him, sees deer feeding a mile or two back, and goes off for a hunt. I go to a peak, which seems to be the highest one in this region, about half a mile distant, and climb, for the purpose of tracing the topography of the adjacent country. From tllis point, a fine view is obtained. A long plateau stretches across the river, in an easterly and westerly direction, the summit covered by piue forests, with intervening elevated valleys and gulches. The plateau itself is cut in two by the canon. Other side canons head away back from the river, and run down into the Green. Besides these, deep and abrupt canons are seen to head back on the plateau, and run north to.ward the Uinta and White Rivers. Still other ca11ons head in the valleys, and run toward the south. 'fhe elevation of tho • |
