HEAD OF RED RIVER. 55 



before had been turbid, flowing clear and rapidly over it ; and, much to 

 our delight, it was entirely free from salts. This was certainly an un- 

 looked-for luxury, as we had everywhere before this found it exceedingly 

 unpalatable. As I before observed, the effect of this water upon us had 

 been to produce sickness at the stomach, attended with loss of appetite, 

 and a most raging and feverish thirst, which constantly impelled us to 

 drink it, although it had a contrary effect upon us from what we de- 

 sired, increasing rather than allaying thirst. 



After undergoing the most intense sufferings from drinking this nau- 

 seating fluid, we indulged freely in the pure and delicious element as we 

 ascended along the narrow dell through which the stream found its way. 

 And following up for two miles the tortuous course of the gorge, we 

 reached a point where it became so much obstructed with huge piles of 

 rock, that we were obliged to leave our animals and clamber up the re- 

 mainder of the distance on foot. 



The gigantic escarpments of sandstone, rising to the giddy height of 

 eight hundred feet upon each side, gradually closed in until they were 

 only a few yards apart, and finally united over head, leaving a long, nar- 

 row corridor beneath, at the base of which the head spring of the prin- 

 cipal or main branch of Red river takes its rise. This spring bursts out 

 from its cavernous reservoir, and, leaping down over the huge masses of 

 rock below, here commences its long journey to unite with other tribu- 

 taries in making the Mississippi the noblest river in the universe. 

 Directly at the spring we found three small cotton-wood trees, one of 

 which was blazed, and the fact of our having visited the place, with the 

 date, marked upon it. 



On beholding this minute rivulet as it wends its tortuous course down 

 the steep descent of the canon, it is difficult to realize that it forms the 

 germ of one of the largest and most important rivers in America ; 

 floating steamers upon its bosom for nearly two thousand miles, and 

 depositing an alluvion along its borders which renders its valley unsur- 

 passed for fertility. 



We took many copious draughts of the cool and refreshing water 

 in the spring, and thereby considered ourselves, with the pleasure we re- 

 ceived from the beautiful and majestic scenery around us, amply remu- 

 nerated for all our fatigue and privations. The magnificence of the 

 views that presented themselves to our eyes as we approached the head 

 of the river, exceeded anything I had ever beheld. It is impossible 

 for me to describe the sensations that came over me, and the exquisite 

 pleasure I experienced, as I gazed upon these grand and novel pictures. 



The stupendous escarpments of solid rock, rising precipitously from 



