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Show !)6 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO. great speed. An hour of this rapid running brings us to the junction of the Grand and Green, the foot of Stillwater Canon, as wo have named it. These streams unite in solemn depths, more than one thousand two hundred feet below the general surface of the country. The walls of tho lower end of Stillwater Canon are very beautifully curved, as the river sweeps in its meandering course. The lower end of the canon through which the Grand comes down, is also regular, but much more direct, and wo look up this stream, and out into the country beyond, and obtain glimpses of snow clad peaks, the summits of a group of mountains known as tho Siena La Sal. Down the Colorado, the canon walls are much broken. We row around into the Grand, and camp on its northwest bank; and here we propose to stay several days, for the purpose of determining tho latitude and longitude, and the altitude of the walls. Much of the night is spent in making observations with the sextant. The distance from the mouth of the Uinta to the head of the Canon of Desolation is twenty and three quarters miles. The Canon of Desolation is ninety seven miles long ; Gray Canon thlrty six. The course of the river through Gunnison's Valley is twenty seven and a quarter miles; Labyrinth Canon, sixty two and a half miles. In the Canon of Desolation, the highest rocks immediately over the river are about two thousand four hundred feet. This is at Log Cabin Cliff. The highest part of the terrace is near the brink of the Brown Cliffs. Climbing the immediate walls of the canon, and passing back to the canon terrace and climbing that, we :find the altitude, above the river, to be 3,300 feet. 'The lower end of Gray Canon is about two thousand feet; the lower end of Labyrinth Canon, 1,300 feet. Stillwater Canon is forty two and three quarters miles long;. the highest walls, 1,300 feet. CHAPTER VII. FROM TilE JUNCTION OF THE ORAND AND ORE.ZN TO TilE MOUTll OF TIIE LITTLE COLORADO. July 18.-Tho day is spen~ in obtaining the t.ime, and spreading our rations, which, we :find, are badly injured. The flour has been wet and dried so many times that it is all musty, and full of hard lumps. We make a sieve of mosquito netting, and run our flour through it, losing more than two hundred pounds by the process. Our losses, by the wrecking of the "No Name," and by various mishaps since, together with the amount thrown away to day, leave us little more than two months' supplies, and, to make them last thus long, W$.3 must be fortunate enough to lose no more. We drag our boats on shore, and ttu·n them over to recalk and pitch them, and Sumner i engaged in repairing barometers. Wllile we are here, for a day or two, re ting, wo propose to put everything in the best shape for a vigorous campaign. July 19.-Brn.dley and I start tllis morning to climb the left wall below the junction. 'rhe way we have selected is up a gulch. Climbing for an hour over and among tho rocks, we find ourselves in a vast amphitheater, and our way cut off. We clamber around to the left for half an hour, until we :find that we cannot go up in that direction. Then we try the rocks around to the right, and discover a narrow sholf, .nearly half a mile I ng. In some· places, this is so wide that we pass along with ease ; in others, it is . so narrow and sloping that we are compelled to lie down and crawl. We can look over the edge of the shelf, down eight hundred foot, and soc the river rolling and plunging among the rocks. Looking up five hundred feet, to the brink of the cliff, it seems to blend with the sky. We continue along, until we come to a point where the wall is again broken down. Up wo climb. On the right, there is a narrow, mural point of rocks, extending toward the river, two or three hundred feet high, and six or eight hundred 8 OOL |