368 Reviews — TowelVs Exploration of the Colorado. 



it being passed to him ; he takes his knife from its sheath, and steps 

 forward to cut the line, evidently deciding that it is better to go over 

 with the stream than wait for the boat to be dashed to pieces. As 

 he leans over, she sheers into the stream, the stern-post breaks away, 

 and she is loose. " With perfect composure Bradley seizes the great 

 scull-oar, places it in the stern rowlock, and pulls with all his power 

 (and he is an athlete), to turn the bow of the boat down stream. . . 

 One, two strokes he makes, and a third just as she goes over. . . The 

 boat is fairly turned, and she goes down almost beyond our sight, 

 though we are more than a hundred feet above the river. Then she 

 comes up again on a great wave, and down and up ; then around, 

 behind some great rocks, and is lost in the mad white foam below. 

 We stand frozen with fear, for we see no boat. Bradley is gone, as 

 it seems. But now, away below, we see something coming out of 

 the waves ; it is evidently a boat. A moment more, and we see 

 Bradley standing on deck, swinging his hat to show that he is all 

 right." 



The rest of the party fare no better, their boat being swamped 

 (as often happens) in the same rapid ; but those who held together 

 eventually accomplish their task. No wonder, when they emerge 

 from the grand canon of the Colorado, at the Grand Wash River 

 "the quiet of the camp is sweet, as the river flows by in silent 

 majesty, and their joy is almost ecstacy." 



Of the whole book the first nine chapters are filled with descriptive 

 details of the exploration, which — though varied by Indian legends, 

 and remarks about the present and past inhabitants of the region, or 

 the ruined buildings of the latter, the discovery of where a former 

 expedition had been wrecked, and so forth — are, taken together, 

 almost heavily monotonous, from the repetition of similarities in the 

 story, the burden of which is cliffs, canons, rapids, and "buttes," and 

 the same thing over again. Chapter ten is a separate short report 

 on a trip to the mouth of Dirty-devil river, by the geographer of the 

 party, Professor A. H. Thompson, the two hundred and eighty miles 

 traversed appearing to bear a striking resemblance to the rest of the 

 region. The two following chapters are devoted to the physical 

 features ofthe Yalley of the Colorado, about which more anon. And 

 the remaining sixty-four pages are occupied by zoological papers 

 "On the Genera Geomys and Thomomys;" the Cranial and Dental 

 Characters of Geomydice, by Dr. Elliott Coues ; and Notes on the 

 Salamander of Florida [Geomys Gueza), by Professor Brown Goode. 

 None of which seem to have any particular connexion with the sub- 

 ject of the work as indicated by its name and title-page. 



It is the chapters on the physical features of the country that will 

 most interest geological readers, and of these we may add a few 

 words. 



The author starts with the assertion that these features are unique ; 

 and some are not reproduced, except to a very limited extent, on any 

 other portion of the surface of the globe. Much of the region is 

 in the arid country of the western portion of tlie United States, 

 but not altogether waterless, judging from the local ? rains 



