A short ride by automobile from Moab to the D. & R.C. railway
would complete a most wonderful journey; then the transcontinental
journey could be resumed.
So I mused, as I contrived an arrangement of iron hooks and oak sticks
to hold on a hatch cover, from which all the thumb screws had been
lost. More than likely my dream of a line of sight-seeing motor boats
will be long deferred; or they may even meet the fate of Brown's and
Stanton's plans for a railroad down these gorges.
As a reminder of the fate which overtakes so many of our feeble plans,
we found a record of Stanton's survey on a fallen boulder, an
inscription reading "A 81 + 50. Sta. D.C.C. & P.R.R.," the
abbreviations standing for Denver, Colorado Canyons, and Pacific
Railroad. It is possible that the hands that chiselled the inscription
belonged to one of the three men who were afterwards drowned in Marble
Canyon.
Emery--being very practical--interrupted my revery and plans for
future sight-seers by announcing supper. The meal was limited in
variety, but generous in quantity, and consisted of a dried-beef stew,
fried potatoes and cocoa. A satisfied interior soon dispelled all our
previous apprehensiveness. We decided not to run our rapids before we
came to them.
The water still gave indications of being higher than low-water mark,
although it was falling fast on the Green River. Each morning, for
three days previous to our arrival at the junction, we would find the
water about six inches lower than the stage of the evening before.
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