A slightly higher
stage of water, however, would have made many such rapids. Just below
this point we found the body of a bighorn mountain-sheep floating in
an eddy. It was impossible to tell just how he came to his death.
There was no sign of any great fall that we could see. He had a
splendid pair of horns, which we would have liked to have had at home,
but which we did not care to amputate and carry with us.
On this day's travel, we passed a number of places where the
marble--which had suggested this canyon's name to Major
Powell--appeared. The exposed parts were checked, or seamed, and
apparently would have little commercial value. We passed a shallow
cave or two this day, then found another cave or hole, running back
about fifteen feet in the wall, so suitable for a camp that we could
not refuse the temptation to stop, although we had made but a very
short run this day. The high water had entered it, depositing
successive layers of sand on the bottom, rising in steps, one above
the other, making convenient shelves for maps and journals, pots and
pans; while little shovelling was necessary to make the lower level of
sand fit our sleeping bags. A number of small springs, bubbling from
the walls near by, gave us the first clear water that we had found for
some time, and a pile of driftwood caught in the rocks, directly in
front of our cave, added to its desirability for a camp. Firewood was
beginning to be the first consideration in choosing a camp, for in
many places the high water had swept the shores clean, and spots which
might otherwise have made splendid camps were rendered most
undesirable for this reason.
Pages:
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193