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BEAU EOCK, 87 



extent peeled off in layers, tlie image was not by any means 

 defaced, Nothing is knoAvn of its history^ .either hj the 

 Mexicans or the wild Indians, who seem to hold it in yenera- 

 tion, probably as a medicine charm ] for many rude represen- 

 tations of lizards, beavers, and other animals of grotescLue form, 

 were scratched around it in Indian fashion. Some fcAY beads 

 were also found about the rocks, and some grooves, made by 

 sharj)ening the iron heads of the arrows, were cut into the 

 stone in several places. The painting was most probably made 

 by a party of French or Spanish explorers at some distant 

 period, either as a sign to show the direction they had taken^ 

 or to mark some treasm'c hidden away by them. I^o treasure, 

 however, has yet been discovered there. The place is difficult 

 of access, and can only be found by one well acquainted 

 with its exact position. 



On the 26th, General Wright, Dr. Le Conte, myseK, and a 

 few of the escort made a detom* of twenty-six miles tln-ough 

 some of the valleys which lie, like links in a chain, along the 

 course of the Pm-gatoii-e, and are similar in their beauty to 

 those which I have described above. These valleys averaged 

 about seven miles long by from one to thi^ee broad, and were 

 separated from each other by the close approximation of the 

 bluffs to the river here and there for a short distance. 

 " ^ 'Wo left the river near the lower end of the Great Canon, 

 and passed on to the upland country or plateau by means of 

 a side ravine six miles long. Some fine water-holes lay at 



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our camp. As soon as tents were pitched, I 



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aTine 



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®' a mule, accompanied by Mr. J. Bell, whose kindness in assisting 

 me on so many occasions I shall ever rememher with gratitude. 

 Our ohiect was to penetrate, if possible, into the Great Canon 



