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Show 188 EXPLORATION OF TilE OARONS OF THE COT..~ORADO. there it is cut by narrow canons or gulches, which may be ascended, and in two or three places volcanoes) standing on the plateau above, have poured ont stt·eams of lava, that have run over this wall in rugged slopes, which can be climbed with difficulty. ~"hen we pass on to the east, winding among volcanic cones, and in many places walking over sheets of cooled basalt and beds of cinders, until we reach the foot of the To-ro' -wcap Cliffs. IIm·e we have another wall 800 feet high to climb. Still passing to tho cast, by a difficult way, crossing canons and gulches, at last we reach the western foot of the Kaibab Plateau, and again climb 2,000 feet to its summit, where we arc 8,000 feet above the level of the sea. 'l"o the south, we can see the Grand Canon of the Colorado· its moanderinO' ' 0 course can be traced for two hundred miles; far away to the north, we see the ragged lines of Vermillion Cliff, an escarpment due to erosion. On to the east, for thirty miles, and we reach the eastern brink of the Kaibab Plateau. Descending 1,500 feet, we have a bench three or four miles wide, and make a seeond de. cent of fifteen 1mndred or eiO'htoen lmnclre. d feet, when we reach t.he eastern foot of the plateau, an<l ~an<l on the plam above Marble Canon. ' l"o tho south, these eastern Kaibab stops ltavo escarpments, as the displacements are by faults. 'l'o the north, they have slopes, as the displacements are by folds. . Then we cross the plain, and still go on to the east for a distance of thlrty five or forty miles, and reach the foot of a line of cliffs facino- tho west once more. o OlimbinO' this we find 't t b 1 'd . h o ' 1 o e a s1arp n ge, wtth a face also turned to t e east' so that we have t wo rm es of c} I'Jur.s or escarpments one facino- the 'eI~hst, the other the west, brought so close together as to for~ a sharp ;.ido-e e eastern face · d t · o · • IS ue o eroswn; the western face to dis lacement b foldmg. I shall hereafter discuss this ridO'e in a . 1 b . p y Th G d W 1 b mote e a Oiate manner. '1,1 . o. ran as l Valley js 'a d eser t 0 f' b ro1 { en rocks and naked sands. 1ere ate two or three 8 : • 1 l ·n a reO'· pnngs 111 t 1e valley, and here squalid Indians live oton so warm and ·] 1 1 ' 1 so anc ' t lat t ley are not compelled to build them-se ves even shelter of bark and boun-h b . shade of the few -s . o s, ut wallow m the sand or seek the ct ubby cedars that grow from the crevices of the rocks. U-IN-KA-HET MOUNTAINS. 189 The Shi' -wits Plateau is naked and desolate, but here and there springs burst from beneath tho baBaltic clifl~, and deep gulches and canons are cut from its marg·in tUHl rnu into Bide canons of tlte Colorado. About these springs and in the deep gulches the Shi' -wits Indian~:) live, cultivating little patches of com, gathering seeds, eating tho fruits and fleshy stalks of cactus plants, a:nd catching a rabbit or a lizard now and then; dirty, squalid, but happy, and boasting of their rocky land as the very Eden of the earth. In the region above tho Hurricane Ledge there are extensive grazing lands, and where there are a few springs, which can be used for irrigation, the Mormon people have succeeded in raising the products of a temperate dimate. In the region below there are two or three small towns along the course of the Virgen and Santa Clara River~:~, where the inhabitants have succeeded in cultivatiug sub-tropical products, a11d you can tlu:ow a stouc from the land of the potato and apple to the land of the fig and sugar caue. On this great table-land, immediately north of the Colorado Hiver, there is a group of mountains aud volcanic cones, known as the U-in-lca-rets, of which meution will be ma<lo hereafter. 'l"he benches I have described are step~:) m the great ·tairway to the K.uiLab Plateau, where the clouds yield their snows even in July, and the moil::!ture of tlt.is 11 ppor region has disintegrated the rocks, and formed a soil which gives footing to vast pi no forests. Springs of water abound, beautiful lakes are scattered here anti there, and mead ws, clothed with verdure, give pasturage to hordl:) of deer. 'Tltil:) is the summer home of the J(ai-vav' -its. 'rhe plain between tho foot of tJw KaiLab Plateau and tho Echo Cliffs, along tho Paria Fold, is naked and desolate. 'l'hrough its center runs the deep gorge known as Marble ailon, with its many side caiions aud gulches. Ou tl1e cal:ILOI'll ~:;lope of the Echo Cliffs a number of spriug::, are found, and these are famom; watering phwc~:> for the Navajo Indians. The western slope of tho range i~:> composed of homogeneous, but rather friable, sand~:>tone, and the rain-water rills have corradeu deep chan-nels, interrupted by mauy pot-holes. After a shower, these pot-holes ru ·~.- .... wunJ filled witla water. There il:) a place, near by the trail which passes from the mouth of tho Paria to the province of Tusayan, where there is a collection of these water-pockets, known as the Thou~:>and Wells . • # . |
