THE CAVES. 243 



quite narrow. The walls on each side of us rise to a great 

 height, and the intervening space is a level floor of fine 

 silvery sand. Not a speck of verdure is to be seen; but, 

 in compensation, the cliffs, which are variegated green and 

 red sandstone, have had their faces fluted and columned by 

 the rain-wash of ages into most extraordinary and beauti- 

 ful architectural designs. And so nature, like time, brings 

 all things even. This portion of the pass is about a mile 

 long, and in its middle we come to the caves, which have 

 given to it its name. 



These caves are insignificant in size and few in number, 

 only three being as large as ordinary-sized rooms ; but we 

 find them most welcome resting-places. It is midday, and 

 they afford the only escape from the heat and glare of the 

 sun's rays, which, reflected from the hot dazzling sand, and 

 from side to side of the canon, is just frightful. Their 

 appearance suggests the idea that they have been made 

 artificially, and their construction has been credited both 

 to mine-hunters and to the ancient inhabitants of the 

 country. In my own opinion their existence is due to 

 the scooping action, on soft portions of the rock, of the im- 

 mense floods of water which have, from time to time, swept 

 through the pass. 



After a short rest we push on, and, arriving at the 

 mouth of the canon, see before us a large desert valley. I 

 can tell you its width ; I have crossed it often. It is forty 

 miles. I cannot tell its length, for I have not travelled it. 

 No man has. It extends northward to none knoweth 

 exactly whither and southward to the Gulf of California, 

 two hundred miles distant. 



