The Arizona Desert 



&quot; That s a Navajo lamb,&quot; said Emmett. &quot; It s 

 lost. There are Navajo Indians close by.&quot; 



&quot; Away in the desert we heard its cry/ &quot; quoted 

 one of the Mormons. 



Jones and I climbed the red mesa near camp to 

 see the sunset. All the western world was ablaze in 

 golden glory. Shafts of light shot toward the zenith ; 

 and bands of paler gold, tinging to rose, circled away 

 from the fiery, sinking globe. Suddenly the sun 

 sank, the gold changed to gray, then to purple, and 

 shadows formed in the deep gorge at our feet. So 

 sudden was the transformation that soon it was night, 

 the solemn, impressive night of the desert. A still 

 ness that seemed too sacred to break clasped the place ; 

 it was infinite ; it held the bygone ages, and eternity. 



More days, and miles, miles, miles! The last 

 day s ride to the Big Colorado was unforgettable. 

 We rode toward the head of a gigantic red cliff 

 pocket, a veritable inferno, immeasurably hot, glar 

 ing, awful. It towered higher and higher above us. 

 When we reached a point of this red barrier, we 

 heard the dull rumbling roar of water, and we came 

 out, at length, on a winding trail cut in the face of 

 a bluff overhanging the Colorado River. The first 

 sight of most famous and much-heralded wonders of 

 nature is often disappointing; but never can this be 

 said of the blood-hued Rio Colorado. If it had 



23 



