166 
THE GRAND CANON DISTRICT. 
duces, and is not quite so completely overpowered by a vastness which it 
cannot begin to realize. The Muav is relatively only a little nook — a mere 
detail like scores of others, which open directly into the chasm itself or into 
the greater amphitheaters, and which are lost or unnoticed in the multitude. 
Yet as we view it apart from the whole we are still oppressed with its mag- 
nitude. Its walls are a mile in height and very abrupt. The taluses are 
unusuall)^ narrow and the precipices more predominant than in more typi- 
cal profiles. The lines of stratification, always clear and bold in the cliffs 
of the chasm, are disclosed with more than common emphasis and in great 
number. Their scalloped contours, rigorously parallel, winding gracefully 
in and out, are projected in curious figures by the perspective and give rise 
to many illusions. As we stand in the saddle and look down into the 
abyss beneath, all sense of absolute magnitudes is quite lost. The trees 
dwindle to shrubs and then to minute flecks ; the fallen blocks, as big as 
cottages, fade away and blend together in a minutely granular patch-work 
of shades and warm colors, and far down in the lower depths the e3^e can 
recognize nothing but a playground for the imagination. Above us on the 
crest-lines are the rows of pinnacles. As we stood beside them a few hours 
ago and looked up to the quaint, curious knobs upon their summits we 
felt very much as we might when looking up at the Bunker Hill Monu- 
ment. As we see them now ranging away into the distance they seem 
altogether too tiny and trifling to serve as appropriate decorations for these 
monstrous facades. But the Muav is only a trifle! — a little piece of by- play 
on which we may condescend to bestow a passing look of pleasure as we 
hasten on to grander and mightier scenes! 
Climbing out of the gap, we reach the Kaibab platform again. It is 
not necessary to return to Parusi-wompats, which is in a different direction 
to that which we wish to pursue. Moving southeastward about three miles, 
we come to the brink of a large surface x’avine, cut to the depth of about 
400 feet, and with steep sides. It is one of the largest and deepest in the 
southern portion of the Kaibab, though in other respects it is quite similar 
to the others. A trail leads to the bottom of it, and a small spring is found 
about 400 yards further down the ravine. We named it the Hidden Spring, 
