106 COLORADO PLATEAU, NEAR BIG CANON—CATARACT CANON PRECIPICE. 
of the cliff, and afforded a foothold level and broad enough both for men and animals. I rode 
upon it first, and the rest of the party and the train followed—one by one—looking very much 
like a row of insects crawling upon the side of a building. We proceeded for nearly a mile 
along this singular pathway, which preserved its horizontal direction. The bottom of the caiion 
meanwhile had been rapidly descending, and there were two or three falls where it dropped a hun- 
dred feet at a time, thus greatly increasing the depth of the chasm. The change had taken place 
so gradually that I was not sensible of it, till glancing down the side of my mule I found that he 
was walking within three inches of the brink of a sheer gulf a thousand feet deep; on the other 
side, nearly touching my knee, was an almost vertical wall rising to an enormous altitude. The 
sight made my head swim, and I dismounted and got ahead of the mule, a difficult and delicate 
operation, which I was thankful to have safely performed. <A part of the men became so giddy that 
they were obliged to creep upon their hands and knees, being unable to walk or stand. In some 
places there was barely room to walk, and a slight deviation in a step would have precipitated 
one into the frightful abyss. I was a good deal alarmed lest some obstacle should be encountered 
that would make it impossible to go ahead, for it was certainly impracticable to return. After 
an interval of uncomfortable suspense the face of the rock made an angle, and just beyond the 
turn was a projection from the main wall with a surface fifteen or twenty vards square that 
would afford a foothold. The continuation of the wall was perfectly vertical, so that the trail 
could no longer follow it, and we found that the path descended the steep face of the cliff to 
rr OR cme is ; i ily 
a as tn 
Fig. 34. Precipic 
Lh ? 
1) ‘any; 
e leading to Cataract Cafion. 
the bottom of the cafion. It was a desperate road to traverse, but located with a good deal of 
skill—zigzagging down the precipice, and taking advantage of every crevice and fissure that 
could afford a foothold. It did not take long to discover that no mule could accomplish this 
descent, and nothing remained but to turn back. We were glad to have even this privilege in 
our power. The jaded brutes were collected upon the little summit where they could be turned 
