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SUDDEN APPEARANCE OF CANONS. 173 
] I have sent down the river to get news if possible of Green- 
_ wood’s whereabouts. Hinchman will probably find a mound 
_ there with a letter buried, containing an account of Green- 
_ wood’s movements, and stating where we can find him. We 
_ have two signal fires burning on the highest points over- 
- looking our camp to guide Hinchman to us, and from this 
_ we have called the tributary of Cafion Diablo in which we 
are encamped, “Signal Cafion.” I have called it a camp, but 
it is onlya “high-toned” bivouac, as we parted with tents and 
_ wagons a fortnight ago, and since that time have relied on 
- pack mules, and even these have been unable to cross the 
_ rugged country through which this reconnoissance has been 
_ mmade without sacrificing some of their number to the good of 
; the cause. 
Last Monday, for instance, at the close of the day, while 
7 following an old Indian trail across one.of the Mogollon 
_ ranges, suddenly, without. the least previous indication, 
. there yawned at our feet one of those fearful chasms—the 
_ terror of all tired travellers, when they think a few more 
- mniles of gentle march will bring them to a good camping 
spot—which are here one of the great characteristics of the 
country. If “ unexpectedness” be one of the elements of 
romantic grandeur in scenery, this gulf of brown and grey 
rock has high claims for pre-eminence in this respect, with its 
precipitous sides, 500 feet deep, and apparently so narrow 
that it is at first difficult to appreciate fully the hard fact 
that, before you can continue your march, it is absolutely 
necessary to descend to the very bottom, and then, if you 
can, to ascend on the other side. Perhaps days would have 
to be consumed in heading the inexorable channel. There is 
no help for it, and although the tall spruce trees in the bed 
look like saplings, and the stream of water rushing along 
