ABSENCE OF STREAMS ON THE KAIBAB. 
129 
have mostly disappeared and given place to the scrnb-oaks and weeds which 
are the unfailing indications of a cooler and moister climate. But the most 
welcome sight is the close proximity of the yellow pines which stand upon 
the summit above and even upon the lower platform which looks down from 
the western side. As yet they do not grow in the valley bottom. We have 
not quite reached the Kaibab, though it is close at hand — nay, we pass right 
by its open gates which seem to invite us in with a welcome ; for at intervals 
of a mile or two we perceive upon the left the openings of grand ravines 
leading up to its platform, and the moment we enter any one of them we 
are within the precincts of the great plateau. Stewart’s Canon is the trunk 
valley which receives the drainage of a considerable section of the western 
side of the Kaibab. The large affluents all come from the east, and none 
of any importance from the west. 
About five miles from the point where the trail enters the valley we 
reach the first water — a tiny stream coming down from one of the great 
ravines and sinking into the soil a few hundred yards beyond the mouth. 
Halting long enough to allow the animals to drink, we move onward about 
two miles further up the valley and make camp. Here there comes out ot 
the Kaibab wall, about 300 feet above us, a stream of water as large as a 
man’s body, which cascades down the rocks into a pool covering half an 
acre. There is a phenomenon here worth noticing, for it is a prelude to some 
very singular facts of general prevalence throughout this wonderful plateau. 
Across the outlet of the pool a rude dam has been constructed of stones and 
mud, which may be easily torn open or replaced. When the dam is open a 
large stream equal to the influx pours out of it, but the whole outpour sinks 
within a quax’ter of a mile. When the dam is closed the water in the pool 
rises about 15 inches, and there is no oixtflow. All the water which enters the 
pool then sinks along the newly submerged margin. A stream of that size 
anywhere else in the Plateau Country would ordinarily run eight or ten miles, 
and in a moist country would run much further. The sudden sinking of 
streams is by no means rare, but is generally exceptional. On the Kaibab 
it is the rule. Upon all its broad expanse there is nothing which can be 
properly called a brook or living stream. About a dozen springs are known, 
but their waters in every instance sink in the earth within a few hundred 
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