ACROSS THE NAVAJO DESERT 49 



legs; and the poor beasts were nearly worn 

 out. 



Huge and bare the immense cliffs towered, 

 on either hand, and in front and behind as the 

 canyon turned right and left. They lifted 

 straight above us for many hundreds of feet. 

 The sunlight lingered on their tops; far below, 

 we made our way like pygmies through the 

 gloom of the great gorge. As we neared the 

 Bridge the horse trail led up to one side, and 

 along it the Indians drove the horses ; we walked 

 at the bottom of the canyon so as to see the 

 Bridge first from below and realize its true size; 

 for from above it is dwarfed by the immense 

 mountain masses surrounding it. 



At last we turned a corner, and the tremen 

 dous arch of the Bridge rose in front of us. It 

 is surely one of the wonders of the world. It 

 is a triumphal arch rather than a bridge, and 

 spans the torrent bed in a majesty never shared 

 by any arch ever reared by the mightiest con 

 querors among the nations of mankind. At 

 this point there were deep pools in the rock bed 

 of the canyon, with overhanging shelves under 

 which grew beautiful ferns and hanging plants. 

 Hot and tired, we greeted the chance for a bath, 

 and as I floated on my back in the water the 

 Bridge towered above me. Then we made 



