CHAPTER VI, 
BLACK CANON TO GREAT BEND—RETURN TO MOJAVE VALLEY. 
CaNon sCENERY.—ROARING RAPID.—-CAMP IN THE CANON.—FREQUENT OCCURRENCE OF RAPIDS.— OUTLET FROM CARON.——FORTIFICATION 
ROCK.— NEIGHBORHOOD OF GREAT BEND.— HEAD OF NAVIGATION.— REIURN 10 S1FAMFR.— NEWS IECMICET YUMA AND VHE YFAIN. — 
COMMENCEMENT OF DESCENT OF RIVFR.—-MORMON SCOUTING PARTY.——DISAFFECTION AMCNG INDIANS.-—MoRMONS AMONG MOJAVES.—— 
ARRIVAL OF MULE TRAIN.—RECONNAISSANCE TO MORMON KOAD.——VIOLENT SICEM.——IFSERTION OF MCIAVES.~- RE EN 10 MCJAVE 
VALLEY.——Suspiclous¥ CONDUCT OF INDIANS.——INTERVIEW WITH CAIRCOK.——EXIIANATION OF DIFFICULTY.—D1vistox OF PARTY.--— 
R M DEPAR SLOPE 10 £1 K MOUN Last VIEW OF MUJAVE VALLEY.~— 
SITGREAVES’S Pass. 
Camp 59,. head of Black cofion, March 10.—The skiff having been put in tolerable order, a 
bucket full of corn and beans, three pairs of blankets, a compass, and a sextant and chronometer 
were stowed away in it, and a little before sunrise the captain, mate, and myself commenced 
the exploration of the cafion. My companions each pulled a pair of sculls, and with consider- 
able vigor; but as the current has a flow of three miles an hour we could not make rapid 
progress. We had proceeded a quarter of a mile, and had just rounded the first bend, when 
one of the sculls snapped, reducing by half cur motive power. There was, fortunately, a 
current of air drawing in the right direction through the narrow gorge, and, with the odd 
scull and a blanket, an apology for a sail was rigged, which, at intervals, rendered great 
assistance. 
In a few minutes, having passed what may be called the outworks of the range, we fairly 
entered its gigantic precincts, and commenced to thread the mazes of a cafion, far exceeding 
in vastness any that had been yet traversed. The walls were perpendicular, and more than 
double the height of those in the Mojave mountains, rising, in many places, sheer from the 
water, for over a thousand feet. The naked rocks presented, in lieu of the brilliant tints that 
had illuminated the sides of the lower passes, a uniform sombre hue, that added much to the 
solemn and impressive sublimity of the place. The river was narrow and devious, and each 
turn disclosed new combinations of colossal ard fantastic forms, dimly seen in the dizzy heights 
ov erhead, or through the sunless depths of the vista beyond. With every mile the view 
became more picturesque and imposing, exhibiting the same romantic effects and varied 
transformations that were displayed in the Mojave cafion, but on an enlarged and grander 
scale, 
Rapids were of frequent occurrence, and at every one we were obliged to get out of the skiff, 
and haul it over. Eight miles from the mouth of the cafion, a loud sullen roaring betokened 
that something unusual was ahead, and a rapid appeared which was undoubtedly the same that 
had been described by Ireteba. Masses of rock filled up the sides of the channel. In the 
centre, at the foot of the rapid, and rising four or five feet above the surface of the water, was 
Z @ pyramidal rock, against which the billows dashed as they plunged down from above, and 
~ glanced upwards, like a water spout. eae 
The torrent was swifter than at any place below, but a steamboat, entirely emptied of its 
cargo, which could be deposited upon the rocks alongside of the rapid, could, if provided with 
long and stout lines, be hauled up. During a higher stage of the river the difficulty of the 
Place would be much diminished. With our nearly worn out ropes it would-be very hazardous" 
'o attempt the ascent. | pia cae oe 
