CHAPTER VIII. 
COLORADO PLATEAU, NEAR BIG CANON, 
CEDAR FOREST.—DESERTION OF HUALPAIS GUIDES.—PINE FOREST.—LOST MAN.—SNOW STORM.—ENTRANCE TO FOREST.—TEMPEST.—CAMP 
IN THE SNOW.—FOREST LAGOONS.— SUMMIT OF PLATEAU.—SAN FRANCISCO MOUNTAIN AND OTHER VOLCANIC PEAKS.—STAMPEDE OF 
| ANIMALS.—ENTRANCE TO SIDE CANON.—OBSTACLES ENCOUNTERED.—D1zzy PATHWAY.—CATARACT CANON PRECIPIC.—RETURN TO 
PLATEAU.— RECONNAISSANCE 16, CATARACT CANON.—CATARACT CREEK.—YAMPAIS VILLAGE.—A NIGHT IN THE CANON.— Sipe caXons 
OF THE COLORADO AND FLAX RIVERS.—RETURN TO LAGOONS—NORTHSIDE MOUNTAINS.—RECONNAISSANCE TO BIG CANON.—FINab 
DEPARTURE FROM LAGOONS.—CroOsSING THE DESERT.—LONG TRAVEL WITHOUT WATER.—PARTRIDGE RAVINE,—GRIZZLY BEAR.— 
APPEARANCE OF COUNTRY IN VOLCANIC REGION.—MOovnt FLOYD. 
Camp 71, Pine forest, April 10.—Four miles from the camp, in the Cedar forest, were some 
large pools of water in a rocky ravine. There was no spring. The supply had been derived 
from melting snows, and the place would be dry a little later in the season. The Hualpais 
seated themselves upon the ground as though they had made up their minds to camp. I 
questioned them as well as I could about the marches ahead, and they assured me that no 
more water would be found for three days. This did not agree with a former statement, but 
they adhered positively to it, and it was possible that it might be true. We thought it better, 
therefore, to go no further. The next morning both the Hualpais were missing. They had 
run away during the night, taking with them a little flour and a pair of blankets. It was 
expected that many of the mules would be missing. They were at once counted, but the 
number was found to be correct. What had frightened the guides off we could not imagine. I 
was sorry they had deserted, for the presence of some one that could be relied upon to point 
out the watering places had prevented a great deal of anxiety. 
We had now entered the region of pines. The growth was thicker, and trees of considerable 
size began to be mingled with the low cedars. The ascent from the Hualpais spring, though 
gradual, had been rapid, and the barometer indicated an altitude of about six thousand feet. 
The increase of elevation was felt very SS in the changed temperature, which had become 
wintry and raw. 
For the first time black-tailed deer were seen, and some of the soldiers took advantage of the 
early arrival at camp to go out hunting. One of them had not returned at dark, and two days 
passed before he was found. Signal fires by night and smokes by day were kept up, and 
searching parties scoured the country in every direction. A light snow storm, that occurred 
the night after the man’s disappearance, had covered up his footprints and made it impossible 
to follow him. During the storm he wandered to a great distance from camp, and when the 
snow melted there was a break in the trail which it was difficult for our most experienced 
trailers, the Mexicans, to connect. They at last got upon the track, at a time when the man 
was completely bewildered, and by mere accident was travelling in the right course. He had 
given himself up for lost, and was wandering in a state of desperation bordering on insanity, 
when he happened to see one of the signal smokes, and followed its direction to camp, which 
the Mexicans reached an hour afterwards, shaving traced him over the whole mat he had 
pursued since his departure. 
The next day an early start was sei We braid. to pideok our own way hecmigh the — 
being for the first time without the guidance of those who were familiar with the country, and 
what was more important, in this arid region, with the whereabouts of watering places. It 
was an unfortunate morning for the experiment. Dark clouds covered the sky, and masses of 
