The Great Canons of the Colorado River. 315 



long marches under a burning sun, were brought to a halt. 

 They had to be tightly hobbled, for, in their frantic desire for 

 water, nothing else could have restrained them from rushing 

 back to the only place where they were certain of finding it. 

 Too thirsty to graze, they stood all night about the camp, fill- 

 ing- the air with distressing cries. This morning, the weakened 

 brutes staggered under their packs as though they were drunk, 

 and their dismal moaning portended a speedy solution of their 

 troubles, should water not soon be found. For the third time 

 the sun rose hot and glaring, and as the great globe of fire 

 mounted the heavens, its rays seemed to burn the brain. The 

 condition of things was desperate, should no water be dis- 

 covered during the day. A single bad canon or ravine to 

 turn us from the course for any great distance would be, un- 

 questionably, the destruction of the train." 



But, just when matters looked the worst, Heaven sent 

 relief, and men and cattle found life in a pool of clear delicious- 

 tasting water. The lessons in physical geology to be derived 

 from the study of this marvellous district, may well be designated 

 lay Dr. Newberry, the naturalist of the enterprise, as of the 

 highest importance. Yolcanic action, the sword which cuts so 

 many geological knots, is powerless to account for the formation 

 of these deep, clean-cut fissures, and the isolated fragments of 

 ancient surfaces which overlook them. B.iver action, as exem- 

 plified in the downward courses of the Colorado and tributaries 

 from the high table-lands, ten or twelve thousand feet on the 

 west side of the Eocky Mountains, at which they rise, has alone 

 cut into and channeled the district with its wonderful series 

 •of canons. In the lapse of ages, the Colorado has cut its way 

 through the higher plateaux, for at least 500 miles of its course, 

 making deep sections through all the sedimentary strata, and 

 in some cases wearmg away hundreds of feet of their granitic 

 base.. Thus, in the great canon of the Colorado "we have the 

 most magnificent gorge, as well as the grandest geological 

 section of which we have any knowledge.'"' The upper Car- 

 boniferous limestone forms the top of this section, and beneath 

 it, in natural order, are to be seen the whole of the lower series 

 of that system, with Devonian, and upper and lower Silurian 

 rocks, ending with Potsdam sandstone, resting upon granite, a 

 total exposed depth of 5500 feet ! 



Dr. Newberry can return no other answer to the question, 

 How came these mighty operations of force to pass ? than by 

 referring them unhesitatingly to a system of erosion, to a pure 

 and simple result of water-action. 



" Probably nowhere in the world has the action of this agent 

 produced results so surprising, both as regards their magnitude 

 and their peculiar character." 



