This left a cave-like
opening which was closed at one end with our dark-room tent. High
water had placed a sandy floor, now thoroughly dry, in the bottom.
Under the circumstances we could hardly ask for anything better. Of
driftwood there was none, and our camp-fires were made of mesquite
which grew in ledges in the rocks; in one case gathered with a great
deal of labour on the shore opposite our camp, and ferried across on
our boats. If a suitable camp was found after 3.30 P.M., we kept it,
rather than run the risk of not finding another until after dark.
Another day, January 1, 1912, brought us to the end of this gorge and
into a wider and more open canyon, with the country above covered with
volcanic peaks and cinder cones. Blow-holes had broken through the
canyon walls close to the top of the gorge, pouring streams of lava
down its sides, filling the bottom of the canyon with several hundred
feet of lava. This condition extended down the canyon for twenty miles
or more. Judging by the amount of lava the eruption must have
continued for a great while. Could one imagine a more wonderful
sight--the turbulent stream checked by the fire flood from above! What
explosions and rending of rocks there must have been when the two
elements met. The river would be backed up for a hundred miles! Each
would be shoved on from behind! There was no escape! They must fight
it out until one or the other conquered. But the fire could not keep
up forever, and, though triumphant for a period, it finally succumbed,
and the stream proceeded to cut down to the original level.
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