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Show SWALLOW CANON 19 bling down from 3,000 to 5,000 feet in a distance of five or six miles. Along their upper courses, they run through grassy valleys ; but, as they approach Red Gallon, they rapidly disappear under the general surface of the country, and emerge into the canon below in deep, dark gorges of their own. Each of these short lateral canons is marked by a succession of cascades and a wild confusion of rocks and trees and fallen timber and thick undergrowth. The little valleys above are beautiful parks; between the parks are stately pine forests, half hiding ledges of red sandstone. Mule-deer and elk abound; grizzly bears, too, are abundant; wild cats, wolverines, and mountain lions are here at home. The forest aisles are filled with the music of birds, and the parks are decked with flowers. Noisy brooks meander through them; ledges of moss covered rocks are seen; and gleaming in the distance are the snow fields, and the mountain tops are away in the clouds. June 4.-We start early and run through to Brown's Park. Half way down the valley, a spur of a red mountain stretches across the river, which cuts a canon through it. Here the walls are comparatively low, but vertical. A vast number of swallows have built their adobe houses on the face of the cliffs, on either side of the river. The waters are deep and quiet, but the swallows are swift and noisy enough, sweeping by in their curved paths through the air, or chattering from the rocks. The young birds stretch their little heads on naked necks through the doorways of their mud houses, clamoring for food. They are a noisy people. We call this Swallow Canon. Still down the river we glide, until an early hour in the afternoon, when we go into camp under a giant cottonwood, standing on the right bank, a little way back from the stream. The party had succeeded in killing a fine lot of wild ducks, and during the afternoon a mess of fish is taken. June 5.-With one of the men, I climb a mountain, off on the right. A long spur, with broken ledges of rock, puts down to the river; and along its course, or up the "hog-back," as it is called, I make the ascent. Dunn, who is climbing to the same point, is coming up the gulch. Two hours' hard work has brought us to the summit. * These mountains are all verdure clad; pine and cedar forests are set on green terraces; snow clad mountains |
