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Show 50 N.A.TIONAL WAGON ROAD. I · therefrom, the handle of a single shovel, and all, every thing, of giant proportions. Arriving at the grave; the body, wrapped in blankets, soon rose from the shoulders of the men slowly upward, dis~ppearing in a misty, impenetrable haze, that obscured tlr~ !feet and ankles of those who stood, or rather seemed to han• g, around. At the movement of the shovel the earth seemed to start, and then dissolve in air ; but before the grave could have been half filled, the illusion had nearly vanished ; a moment longer, and only the green and waving grass of the plain 'vas visible in that direction. On the following day, nearly two miles from our camping ground, we came upon a company of just nine persons, occupying a depressed portion of the plain, and upon a slight elevation near by, they pointed us· to the grave of their companion, the reality of the burial scene of yesterday. CANON. This word, pronounced canyon, was originally used by Mexicans and Spaniards, to denote a narrow gorge, or defile in a mountain, where the sides are walls of rock, nearly or quite perpendicular, and of great higbt. In many localities these canons extend for miles, and are so narrow and rough, from the fallen fragn1ents of rock, that 1-warly block up the way, as to n1ak.e them difficult of transit, even for pack animals. Others are • \ ... NATIONAL WAGON ROAD GUIDE. I 51 entirely occupied by a river or mountain torrent, and wholly impassable; Devil's Gate is of this description ; whilst others are barely wide enough to admit the passage of a wagon, and perhaps occcupied in part by a MOUNTAIN RAVINE |
