EXPERIENCES IX THE GRAND CANYON 



127 



down off the ledge to the level of the 

 river close to the mouth of the Little 

 Colorado. This is the point where the 

 g'orge takes the name of the Grand Can- 

 yon ; the section above, while nearly the 

 same in appearance, is listed as Marble 

 Canyon, for reasons previously given. 



THE IvlTTLE COLORADO RIVER 



An exclamation of surprise broke from 

 us when we saw the Little Colorado. 

 The water of the Colorado, now muddier 

 than ever, and 50 feet above the low- 

 water mark, had dammed up the smaller 

 stream into a deep, quiet pool half a mile 

 or more in length. Its color was a deep 

 indigo blue, and contrasted greatly with 

 the water of the other stream. It is a 

 pity that we have to record the fact that 

 the water was strongly mineral and very 

 unpalatable to the taste. The water in the 

 Colorado, with all its mud and sand, was 

 much preferable to it for drinking pur- 

 poses. 



We had been told of a small clearing a 

 short distance up the canyon, and found 

 it as described. A small level spot had 

 been cleared of willows and mesquite, 

 and had been cultivated at some time 

 many years before. A small stone build- 

 ing, much resembling a cliff-dwelling, 

 had been built under an overhanging 

 wall. A plow had been packed in over 

 this trail which we had found so difficult 

 with our light loads. Cooking utensils 

 and a coil of rope had been carefully 

 concealed in a crevice in the rocks, then 

 covered with sand and rocks. The wind, 

 however, had blown enough sand away 

 to reveal their hiding place. 



A DECOY FOR A SETTLEMENT 



It is quite likely that the person who 

 had lived here was interested in prospect- 

 ing, and was trying to raise enough vege- 

 tables for his own needs. Imagine liv- 

 ing in such a place ! Still it is not un- 

 usual to find men in these out-of-the-way 

 corners of the West, happy and con- 

 tented with their lot, diligently searching 

 for the fortune which they feel sure they 

 will find before another week has passed. 



What a secluded spot it was ! Nothing 

 disturbed the utter stillness of the air. 



The sun sets early in these deep can- 

 yons, and the intense heat of midday 

 had moderated somewhat. After lo- 

 cating our camp, we went down to the 

 river for a plunge, where our attention 

 was called to a peculiar noise. We had 

 seen many mountain-sheep tracks in this 

 vicinity, and thought for a while that the 

 noise was caused by a slide of shale, 

 but we could not locate any movement. 



Then Emery discovered what it was. 

 On the opposite side of the pool the fins 

 and tails of numerous fish could be seen 

 above the water. The striking of their 

 tails had caused the noise we had heard. 

 The "bony tail" were spawning. We 

 had hooks and lines in our packs, and 

 caught all we cared to use that evening. 



GILA TROUT 



They are otherwise known as Gila 

 Elegans, or Gila Trout, but "bony tail" 

 describes them very well. The Colo- 

 rado is full of them ; so are many other 

 muddy streams of the Southwest. They 

 seldom exceed 16 inches in length, and 

 are silvery white in color. With a small 

 flat head somewhat like a pike, the bod}' 

 swells behind it to a large hump. Be- 

 hind the dorsal fin, which is large and 

 strong, the body tapers down slender 

 and round, ending with a large, strong- 

 tail. They are nicely flavored fish, but 

 are filled with countless small bones 

 which divide and subdivide until they are 

 almost like needle points. 



As darkness settled over us that even- 

 ing we began to wonder if our camp on 

 the sand was to be as comfortable as we 

 had anticipated. We had rejected the 

 rock building as a sleeping place on ac- 

 count of the closeness of the atmosphere, 

 added to the fact that it was the home of 

 innumerable rats. As the hour grew 

 late the absolute stillness of the air of an 

 hour previous changed to a violent wind 

 which went tearing up the canyon, laden 

 with sand from the shores of the Colo- 

 rado. Instead of diminishing in fury, 

 as we had hoped it would, it kept in- 

 creasing, coming first from one side, then 

 from^ the other. We found that the 

 junction of the canyons was the very 

 center of the maelstrom of wind which 



