I08 VAN HISE 



ing of a hair ; yet the resourceful strength of each, at the crit- 

 ical moment, turned the balance in the right direction ; whereas 

 a weaker and less courageous man, a man with less foresight 

 and less power to quickly decide upon the safe course, would 

 almost certainly have failed. In marked contrast with the ex- 

 plorations of Powell and those of Nansen are many ill-advised 

 expeditions which have resulted in the loss of many or all of its 

 members ; and yet, in some cases, a man, simply because he 

 has endured great hardships which proper foresight would have 

 prevented, has been rewarded as a hero, whereas he should have 

 been held responsible for the death of the men who supposed 

 him to have qualities which justify leadership in a difficult 

 enterprise. 



I would not be misunderstood upon this point. In some 

 cases where careful preliminary study has been made, where 

 well matured plans have been formed, where good judgment 

 warranted the undertakings, where the leaders had all the 

 qualities of successful explorers, misfortune has befallen the 

 parties. There is legitimate room for accident. No man may 

 feel himself so powerful and resourceful that, at all times, he 

 can overcome the forces of nature. Disaster has sometimes be- 

 fallen the best. It might well have been that Nansen or Powell 

 should have failed. But in the great preponderance of cases 

 the success or failure of an exceptionally difficult and dangerous 

 expedition is dependent upon a previous, exhaustive study of 

 conditions, upon the foresight shown in careful and complete 

 preparation, upon the capacity to estimate chances, upon the 

 resourcefulness of the leader in times of stress. In all these 

 respects Powell proved himself to be in the first class among 

 explorers. 



On May 24, 1869, the party of ten men in four boats starts 

 on its perilous journey. The difficulties to be overcome in the 

 canyons of the Green and the Colorado are found sufficient to 

 try Powell to the utmost. Wherever the rivers traverse the 

 hard rocks there are many rapids and falls to be run or portaged. 

 The boats are frequently swamped and the provisions wetted 

 again and again, so that a large part of them are spoiled. Early 

 in the expedition one of the boats is completely wrecked. Some 



