£12 COLORADO PLATEAU, NEAR BIG CANON—MOUNT FLOYD 
extensive pool of clear, delicious looking water. The crazy beasts, crowding and huddling upon 
one another, plunged into the pond and drank till they were ready to burst. A few yards above 
smaller basins of rock filled with the delightful beverage furnished an ample supply for the men. 
A large grizzly bear—the animal whose tracks we had observed—was seen quietly ascending 
a hill near by, and half of the company rushed after the grim monster. He was unconscious 
of pursuit till the party was close upon him. Then he aimnanded to run, but the hill retarded 
his pace, and a volley of balls made the fur fly in all directions from different parts of his hide. 
Twice he turned as though meaning to show fight, but the crowd of pursuers was so large, and 
the firing so hot, that he continued his flight to the top of the hill, where he fell dead, riddled 
: Fig. 36.—Mount Floyd. 
with bullets. His skin was taken off to be preserved, and the flesh divided among the party. 
It is rather too strong flavored to be palatable when roasted or broiled, but makes capital soup. 
We have now left the arid and desolate cafion region, and a due east course can be pursued 
as far as Flax river. The belt of country now to be traversed is perhaps, at some seasons of 
the year, as dry as the district northward, but at this time the melting snows from the San 
Francisco and other volcanic mountains send fertilizing streams through the valleys and ravines, 
occasioning an abundant growth of grass; and the surface being covered with volcanic rocks, 
natural tanks are formed, that preserve supplies of water for a considerable period. 
We anticipate, therefore, a few days of travel undisturbed by the anxieties that have attended 
the march since leaving the Mojave valley. The only difficulty now to be apprehended is that 
the sharp and vitreous masses of hardened lava overspreading the ground may injure the feet 
of the animals. The rough country traversed has been so hard upon shoes that nearly all of the 
mules are now unshodden. 
A few miles south is a peak that Pte one of the most prominent objects in this region. We 
recognize it as the Mount Floyd laid down by Mr. Beale. 
