ACADEMY OP SCIENCES] WHEELER SURVEY 23 



On October 12 the fifth notebook of the summer is begun. 



This book opens under a cloud at Camp 22 ... in the Big Canon, for last night occurred the accident 

 that lost valuable books & papers and this morning all hands are at work repairing & searching ... In the 

 P. M. after astronomical observations & caulking, we take all things up again to the rapids & with Mr. Wheeler 

 for bowsman I take Boat Picture up the rapid. We ship w r ater . . . but the large force on the ropes pulled us 

 through safely. Our camp at the head of the rapids. 



October 13: 



. . . From this point & time the boat party is divided, One boat goes down stream with dispatches & 



exhausted & demoralized men. The Picture & Trilobite go on up with 10 men (7 white & black; 3 red) each. 



. . . During the day we make some lively transits. One involved a run out with the line on the thole-pin & 



then a jerk ahead after throwing it off . . . The boat was often so highly inclined on a fall that to go forward one 



must climb as though up stairs .... 



October 14: 



... At noon we encounter again the worst rapid we have met & this time are compelled to make a portage 

 of boats as well as freight. Above the rapid the current for a few rods being too swift to row & the cliff perpen- 

 dicular so that towing is out of the question. We have "crept" in the old Genesee style & laid a rope to warp 

 up by with loaded boats . . . The principal birds in the canon are bats ! they can be seen at all hours of the 

 day and night. The steep walls do really shorten the day in such manner as to delay us somewhat. 



October 15: 



. . . Our progress is but four miles over a series of rapids. Toward night we reach a double rapid, — two 



rapids with a short interval of water that can be crossed. On the lower half the rope broke & let H- and 



me drift down stream. We did not discover that we had our line dragging until it anchored us in comparatively 

 slack water below. Then we pulled in the rope and made for the nearest accessible shore. We had shipped some 

 water & put the cargo ashore to save wetting. Made coffee & beds. 



October 16: 



H and I were out of camp (27) last night on acct. of boat accident, and the camp missed us, for we 



had food & beds & our crew went without either. They had however some bread in the morning when we came 

 up & some of them made up all deficiencies by a good hearty grumble lasting through the day. Tonight Lt. 

 Wheeler puts us on short allowance .... Our bacon is gone, & beans & rice are scant; but coffee is in plenty 

 and will outlast every other item. Our flour will hold out -at this rate six days & these must bring us to the 

 Diamond River or back to the crossing, the former if possible. 



October 18: 



... 2 accidents & I in each of them. 1st as my boat the Trilobite was taking in her cargo her fastenings 

 gave way & she fell backward over the rapid, bumping her stern severely over the rocks & starting a rapid leakage. 



R H and I had the ride down and did not enjoy it. 2d At a very lively rapid an attempt was made 



to drag up an otherwise empty boat with S and me aboard, & we were swamped & upset. Shore was near 



at hand & we swam to it & hung our clothes on the rocks to dry. Here I found the inconvenience of having 

 no change of raiment ... In the first accident three carbines were lost & one of them mine. I do not feel 

 very sorry unless I am called on to pay for it; which would be highly unjust. The care of it was onerous & not 

 compensated by any present nor probable use. This forenoon we saw a star (probably Venus) by day probably 

 at 10 or 11 A. M. It appeared just above a 1000-ft. cliff that occulted the Sun, & was plain to be seen. This 

 will go well with the bat matter in describing the gloom of the canon . . . The roar of the rapids is echoed by 

 the cliffs and in the still of the night has the seeming of a mingling of many voices. As I write it is somewhat 

 musical & reminds me of church-bells in the distance (when alone they are musical). 



October 19: 



. . . The water has been so swift today that we have had to tow the boats most of the way. . . . 



October 20: 



. . . Lay in camp at Diamond River all day resting or trying to. The river trip has proved very exhausting 

 & after 24 hours of nothing to do (heavier than solar observations) I still feel as though just out of a threshing 

 machine. 



Here a detachment of the overland party came down from the plateau, with mules carrying 

 a supply of food, so that the river party, which had been on short rations for a time, had a full 

 supper. 



The only published allusion made by Gilbert to this difficult piece of exploration is an incon- 

 spicuous sentence in the geological volume of the Wheeler reports, in connection with a sys- 

 tematic explanation of cliffs and slopes in the terminal part of the canyon: 



With the boat party, headed by Lieutenant Wheeler, I ascended this portion of the gorge, and had my 

 attention especially drawn to the rapids and other phenomena of erosion and transportation. (Vol. Ill, p. 70.) 



