IH'TTOX.] 



FROM KAXAB TO THE KAIBAB. 



133 



Fig. 13.— A fault with the beds flexed downward on the sunken sido 



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 tbem we arc 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 of 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 cov- 

 ering 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 Ixas 

 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 quarter of a mile. 

 When the dam is closed the water in the pool rises about 15 inches and 

 there is no outflow. 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 



