110 COLORADO PLATEAU, NEAR BIG CANON— CROSSING THE DESERT. 
The mules were brought back this evening;only two were lost; the others reached the 
Lagoon. To-morrow morning we shall return to that place, and after making an examination 
of the caiions northwest of the trail proceed to follow the remaining route now open to us. 
Camp 14, Forest lagoons, April 18.—Midway between the last camp and the lagoons, a trail was 
encountered leading towards another point of the Big cafion. With a small detachment I left 
the main party and followed its course. Itheaded directly for the north side mountains—the 
peaks: already spoken of as seen upon the opposite bank of the Colorado. We travelled till 
dark’; the:trail ended near some deserted huts that resembled those seen at the Yampais village; 
they-‘were’ih the midst of a pine grove; there was no water in the neighborhood, and the 
Yampais, who doubtless make this place’ their summer resort, must be compelled to send to the 
bottom of the cafion for their supply. iS 
The-country became rough and so much cut up by ravines that it was impossible to approach 
very Closely to the main river. <A good: view was obtained of the walls of the Flax ‘river 
caiion, and its mouth approximately located.. The junction was below the mouth of Cascade 
creek, showing that that stream is not, as had been supposed, a tributary of the Colorado, but 
of its smaller affluent. ee 
We had to camp without water, and it being the second day that the animals had had nothing 
to drink, a great part of them broke from the herders as soon as their saddles were removed | 
and made a stampede for the lagoons. Barely enough were left to pack the few articles that 
had been brought. : 
Another reconnaissance has since been made on foot from the lagoons westward. - A line 
thirty miles in extent was traversed, with results similar. to those previously obtained. An ex- 
cellent view was had of the Big cafion. The barometric observations upon the surface of the 
plateau, and at the mouths of Diamond and Cataract rivers, showed that» the walls of this por- 
tion of the cafion were over a mile high. The formation of the ground was such that the eye 
could not follow them the whole distance to the bottom, but as far down as they could be 
traced they appeared almost vertical. A sketch taken upon the spot by Mr. Egloffstein does 
better justice than any description can do to the marvellous scene. 
Our Teconnoitering parties have now been out in all directions, and everywhere have been 
headed off by impassable obstacles. The positions of the main water-courses have been deter- 
mined with considerable accuracy. The region last explored is, of course, altogether valueless. 
It can be approached only from the south, and after entering it there is nothing to do but to 
leave. Ours has been the first, and will doubtless. be the last, party of whites to visit this 
profitless locality. It seems intended by nature that the Colorado river, along the greater 
portion of its lonely and majestic way, shall be forever unvisited and undisturbed. The handful 
of Indians that inhabit the sequestered retreats where we discovered them have probably 
remained in the same condition, and of the same number, for centuries. The country could 
not support a large population, and by some provision of nature they have ceased to multiply. 
The deer, the antelope, the birds, even the smaller reptiles, all of which frequent the adjacent 
territory, have deserted this uninhabitable district. Excepting when the melting snows send 
their annual torrents through the avenues tothe Colorado, conveying with them sound and 
motion, these dismal abysses, and the arid table-lands that enclose them, are left, as they have 
been for ages, in unbroken solitude and silence. : ) 
encamped furnish, as far as we have 
west of the mouth of Diamond river. During the summer it is probable they are dry, and that 
7 platean. We start forthe south with some 
water will be again met: with. — e 
ie. 
ate ee 
: 21.+-On*the:day of our departure from the lagoons it was, 
for the first time during more than a week, warm and clear. Both the heat and the dryness 
were regretted. Even a snow-storm would have been welcome, assuring a supply of water. 
