Nov. 29, 1902.] 
FOREST AND STREAM, 
water m a million years ; but like a rather careless house- 
wife, hadn't swept the corrfcrs clean. What the river 
took out it carried down to the (5ulf of California br 
somewhere tlicreabouts, stopping to make a few deserts 
l)y the way. There are still a few points that are not 
exactly clear, as liow a river two hundred feet wide could 
scoop out a trough ten miles wide, and a few other such 
conundrums; but give even a small river time enough and 
i suppose it can do almost anything. 
A pretty steep hot climb brought us back again to the 
liotel, and as the attempt to get a canon two hundred and 
thirty miles long, ten wide, and one deep, on a three by 
four kodak film was a little too much for even Mrs. 
we took pictures of each other perched on apparently 
paralyzing cliffs to humbug the stay-ut-homes, as is the 
wont of travelers — because, of course, "the camera can- 
not lie." 
After lunch we set out for a ramble through the mild 
kind of woods they have here, to a projecting point visible 
from the hotel, with the idea of getting a different view. 
Our road led us up with considerable rapidity, but hav- 
ing reached our designed point sooner than we expected 
(we were now rather inclined to over-estimate the dis- 
tances), and being disappointed in the view, because, 
though grand beyond expression, it Avas in no way appre- 
ciably different from that we had had already, we con- 
tinued our way until Rowe Point was reached at a level of 
7,049 feet. Before us stretched the same interminable vista 
of re-entrant curves and giant steps, to all appearances, that 
wc had seen before. They were in truth entirel}'' different, 
but it would require an eye trained by much experience 
to detect it. I think, were one to miss his road and strike 
the canon at any given point, he would be utterly unable 
to tell by any landmark, whether he was a mile or ten 
miles from the place he sought. With infinite varie'y of 
detail, there is infinite sameness of effect. 
From our lofty perch we did get a glimpse of the river, 
a turbid stream broken by rapids, but a more careful 
inspection with the glass did not reveal any greater beau- 
ties, nor awaken any warmer desire to make its closer ac- 
quaintance. 
The sun sinking toward the west gradually threw into 
strong relief pinnacles which in the morning had pre- 
sented a totally different aspect; and these changes took 
place with, stifhcient rapidity to make it possible to note 
them, but still it was a change without a difference; and 
tiring of a view which in its dull hues and dense shadows 
was somewhat depressing, we set out on our . return to 
the hotel. 
At dinner we were rejoined by the party who had made 
the descent and waited with much interest to hear their 
verdict. One old gentleman had given out entirely and 
had been left behind on the way to await the return of 
the others; and at this meal he appeared a total wreck. 
Another whom I had sized' up in my mind as the sensible 
and experienced one of the party, and whose report I was 
prepared to rely upon, said simply that the trip "was 
rather disappointing, and hardly repaid one for the fa- 
tigue." That was enough. I knew that he was putting 
it very mildly, and we decided then and there to confine 
our wanderings to the upper level. 
We watched the train go out next morning with some 
interest, for it carried away every guest in the hotel save 
ourselves and two others. The "curio shop" proved to 
have few if any attractions. The Navajo blankets were 
most of them so suspiciously correct in their weaving 
that I set them down as probably either made in Chicago, 
or else from wool, and after patterns, prepared there; 
for the taint of conunercialism is over it all, and there 
is a palpable air of being made for the market about 
ev^erything. « , _ ^ 
Tlie train having departed and the curio shop being 
exhausted, we set out for another projecting promon- 
tory known as O'Neill Point. By traveling along the 
brink of the chasm we managed to cover a good deal of 
ground and kill a good deal of time before reaching our 
destinatioir, and the result was not wildly enthralling — 
that is, it was in no way apparently different from the 
other views. Looking at the canon is a good deal like 
looking at the moon : no matter where you stand, you see 
the same old moon. 
It wasn't too hot for comfortable walking, and the air 
was marvelously invigorating, but there was an almost 
absolute dearth of life; one solitary lizard and a couple 
of birds, I think, the sum total. There were no insects, 
not even mosquitoes, to enliven the scene, and the dogs 
didn't seem to have any fleas. 
On the extremity of the point a cairn of white stones 
about six feet high, had been erected, and at one time 
covered with white cloth, doubtless to enable the sur- 
veyors to get sights on it from a distance, for triangula- 
tion. The stones were covered with pencilled names and 
dates, and the interstices stuffed with visiting or business 
cards. 
Disco-vering that it lacked but twenty minutes of 
twelve, and knowing the reprehensible habits of punc- 
tuality whicli prevailed at our hotel, we set out on a 
Jiasty return journey, but we had not gone far before it 
began to thunder and lighten, and threaten to rain.. 
Thinking that some time might be saved thereby, I sug- 
_gested that we swing inland and endeavor to get on the 
stage road, but we wandered over a very considerable 
tract of timbered country before we found it. A "cullud. 
gemman" appearing just at that opportune juncture we 
inquired of him as to the distance and direction 01 the; 
hotel, and then pushed on to get there before the rain, 
did. It didn't rain very hard, but it thundered and light- 
ened considerable, and the witui blew in savage gusts, 
likewise we were somewhat lightly clad, but Mrs. *** 
footed it like an athlete — long boots and short skirts are. 
the things for good walking— and we reached the hotel 
with only a very slight sprinkling, just as the Chinese: 
laundrj'man of tlae hotel was hastily taking in his whole 
morning's wash, which threatened every moment to take 
unto itself wings and fly over the brink of the chasm, 
to the distant depths. Likewise, it was covered with 
dust, which was blowing in clouds, and would all have tO' 
be washed over again. 
We were a little late for lunch, but hungry enough tO' 
Catch up. 
The unexpectedly overcast sky and gloomy weather 
where we had expected only sunshine (for we imagined 
ihat it practically never rained in Arizona), decided us tO' 
leave the next morning, though we had intended to re- 
main much longer; but the exodus of so many of the 
guests and the somewhat unsatisfactory fare had a some- 
what depressing effect. As I Jieard a man saying to an 
attach^ of the hotel on the night of our arrival, "at Yel- 
lowstone there was something to do and something to 
see every day," and as he went away the next morning,* I 
concluded that he had found it somewhat different here; 
t am sure we did. During the afternoon I found a 
tarantula cruising around in the rear of the hotel, and 
followed him, or her, for half an hour, to see what he, 
she, or it would do; without discovering anything of im- 
ortaiice, and it at last took refuge under a log, instead 
j£ piloting me to its dwelling, as I had expected; then 
r went off and found some of the others, and rolling 
Siway' the log, exhibited my curio. Meantime, a denizen 
jf one of the neighboring tent-cottages came to see what 
i J»ad found, and when she saw, took a big stick and 
lambasted the everlasting daylights out of the bug; she 
didn't seem to have any taste for tarantulas. 
Then a pair of patient and long- eared burros came up 
from the depths of the canon to take down the packs of 
a party ■ expected by the train that night, who were to 
cross the river and proceed to a mine, or place where it 
was hoped a mine had been found, I don't remember 
which. Mrs. *** tackled the packer and engaged to take 
the pictures of his animals with their packs on the next 
day. By the way, this packer was the only man we met 
in any way out of the common; he was something of a 
character and gave us the only piece of information any- 
body had thought it worth while to waste on us. The 
name of the "Bright Angel" Hotel had seemed particu- 
larly inappropriate to the scene and its surroundings; a 
hopelessly plain building partly log cabin and partly clap- 
boards, as uninterestingly ugly as a building could be, but 
the packer expl; ned that when the intrepid Powell made 
his memorable ^ip through the canon, never knowing 
what he would oring up against, and with so many perils 
packed into one journey that nobody yet has ever been 
able to do justice to the subject, the party came suddenly 
on a clear crystal brook pouring down a lateral canon 
and mixing its purity with the muddy floods of the 
"Colorado." In his enthusiasm at the unwonted sight 
he christened it "Bright Angel Creek." Now, as it hap- 
pened,- in course of time, one of the few possible de- 
scents of the walls of the caiion was discovered on the 
opposite side of the river near this point; and it natur- 
ally t»ok the name of "Bright Angel Trail," which was 
' ery well; but when diey built the hotel there and called 
that Bright iVngel, too, the thing became ridiculous. 
Just about dark some misguided individual told Mrs., 
•i of some ancient and venerable Indian paintings under 
some overhanging cliff's, but after we had proceeded half 
a mile or less, I struck; for while it was possibly light 
ejough to enable us to complete the journey there, it 
w.Duld be too dark to see our way back, and there is 
nothing soft to fall on in that country. Beside, we were 
no longer in climbing costume, and what is very gOQ.d for 
high boots, is very bad for patent leather ties. Why the 
blazes somebody didn't tell us before, I don't see, for 
while I have my doubts as to the artistic value of Indian 
pictorial efforts, we would, under the circumstances, have 
been willing to devote considerable time to their ex^ami- 
nation. 
Gee! didn't it thunder and lighten that night] One 
thirteen-inch Oregonian let go exactly over our room 
and seemed to lift the roof ; then it traveled off down the 
canon, making uncomplimentary remarks all the way for 
a hundred miles or so. After that it gradually quieted 
down, and we fell asleep. 
It was a rather chilly morning, and the mists hung low 
in the canon, making it more weird and mysterious thm 
ever. By the way, we were greatly disappointed in the 
moonlight effect. I had arranged for a full moon, and 
it was there, all right, but the result was .not at all up to 
our expectations. The great bastions and battleships 
and things didn't seem to stand out at all., as we had 
supposed tliey would ; perhaps from the other sidp of tlje 
canon it might have been better. 
During the day there is a peculiar blue light in the 
canon.; not a haze, but seeming to be blue just as the sky 
is, because one looks through such a thick layer of air. 
There w^as certainly a sort of sky-blue effect after every 
vestige of cloud .and mist had been dissipated by the sun. 
Wandering around after breakfast, 1 came upon the 
pack train at the head of the trail in front of the hotel., 
all ready to begin the descent, but the packer, in mugh 
lierturbation of mind, because he had promised a certain 
lady an opportunity to photograph the train when readty 
for the trail ; and there was no lady , armed with the 
deadly kodak, visible to the naked eye. 
I knew who the missing lady was, but I had no i4ea 
where she was; so I lifted up my voice, and from the 
depths of the elsewhere came an answering and interro- 
:gative "Yes?" "Hi! get a move on with that kodak," I 
remarked, '"not satisfied with stopping the ■Overland.' 
you're holding up a pack train now." 
"'B-o-a-r-d," says the conductor, and we started on 
the .return journey. We passed a lot of lumber and 
things by a camp where stands a sign showing it to be a 
"forest reserve," so that I judged that there was going 
tTD be something of an establishment there. It wasn't 
much of a forest as forests go elsewhere, but it was much 
too valuable in this country to be left unguarded, and we 
were glad to see that measures were being taken for its 
preservation before it was too late. It would do to get 
iost in at any rate, and was near enough to the hotel to 
be quite sconvenient for that purpose. 
Then I saw a chipmunk ! It gave quite a homelike air 
to the .scene; he seemed like an old friend. We hadn't 
seen aiay horned toads, no Gila monsters, only one lizard, 
and half a dozen black-cap jays, the land is desolate. 
Some miles further on we came to a small colony of 
prairie dogs, but they lacked the "sass" of their Mon- 
tana brethren, and slunk dejectedly away, instead of sit- 
ting up and barking at us. 
We caught the west bound at Williams, and at Selig- 
man, about forty miles 011, we changed time, and my 
watch became once more right, or, to put it more prop- 
erly, the time once more agreed with my watch. Here, 
as at most of the stations, were a number of Indian 
squaws with pappooses, which you could photograph, for 
a consideration; or beadwork which 3'ou could buy, for 
four times its value. Generally, they were clad m dresses 
and flowing mantles of the most bizarre patterns, and col- 
ors of great variety; but the wearers themselves, as was 
evident to more than one sense, were imiformly dirty. 
The Arizona Apache and his kindred was a bird as a 
fighter, but if he was ever a clean bird, he has got bravely 
n\ er it, 'rtough he has preserved his love of nttery. 
Soon we came, near Berry it was, ti? a series of the 
longest "tangents" that 1 guess ever wcte. For miles 
and miles the track lay on the plain like two tuled lities 
in the "First Lessons in Perspefctive," then it would 
swing slowly to one side and disappear behind a knoll, 
to be succeeded by another as long. I watched one Of 
these tangents until I was tired out; we had descended 
something of a slope for about a quarter of its length, 
and this more than compensated for the curvatui-e of tlie 
globe, the consequence being that the rails seemed to 
go on until they met at the foot of a telegraph pOle iri 
the dun and misty distance. I had made a rash vow- 
that I would not leave the rear of the train until that 
line curved; and I began to think that darkness would 
be the only thing to save me; mile after mile the tfairi 
thundered along; I saw hand-cars put on the track as we 
passed, and watched them follow us until they dimiii- 
ished to indistinguishable specks, and still the track lav 
behind us, a straight line pointing to the foot of that 
telegraph pole. At last the line began to swing a little 
and lest I should be tempted again, I hastily quitted 
my post. 
The porter told me that we ran down hill here one hun- 
dred and seventy miles without a break. At Seligman we 
were 5 260 feet above sea level, and a few miles back 
.somewhere about Pmereta, we must have been a couple 
of hundred feet higher. From about Truxton it is a 
steady descent to Needles, 477 feet above .sea level, or a 
drop of 4,783 feet m the one hundred and seventy miles. 
Wc routed out pretty early the next morning, though 
It was quite cold, to have a good look at the Tehachapi 
tunnels; and as we began the descent, forgot the chill jiir 
in the endeavor to pick out on the mountain .side h(gh 
above us. the hole we had shot out of half an hour befoi^e. 
The whole distance is done by gravitation ; the oil is shut 
off and there is no smoke in the tunnels. I recognized 
some nf the scenery I had noted on our outward journey 
but It IS a very different sen.sation sliding down hill thirty- 
nine hundred feet in less than thirtv miles, from crawljng 
up the same distance. 
When we were, as it seemed, within a stone's .tjprow of 
Cahente (really a quarter of a mile, I beliieve)., we tujrne^ 
our backs upon it. then approached agaiij, $:rosse^ our 
own trail, swung away, and back; and after some sevejj 
m,iles of travel, stopped for a moment gt its little stat^on^ 
and twenty miles further on drew up at Bake^sfield fqif 
break f^ist. 
Owing to an ^tccident to a drawhead, w,e l^efit Barstow 
last night tljree hours late, but by the time we reached 
P.akersfield we had made up an houf of if ; ^and ;by ju.di- 
ciously cutting out "local" traffic, tlw sent in to the 
termma! station at Poi,ut Richmond practicallv on time, 
getting us home m time for a late dinner. an,d pur much- 
looked-forw:?ir,<il-ito trip was ;at an en(;l. 
It was. I f^air I niust ^eQi,ifess,-a good deal ,of a djisap- 
poiiitment ; the jou,i-ney oyer the desert is a particularly 
hard one, though we su,f ered as little iiiconvenience as 
seems humaoiily possible, and the fare is riot exactly cal- 
culated to build Qne up after the fatigues of travel. Every- 
thing is .don^; jtliat I suppose can be ,dqne, ,b'i!^t we shajlil 
hesitate some |ti,iiie before again venturing upon spea(fj.^g 
a vacation jin AfizQn^, tljie Land pf the Jivi Cow. ' " ' ^ 
The canon itself, though grar^d ajiad impressive jbeyond 
words to descrij^.e, fis gloomy and iponotqnous ;in an al- 
most equal .degr^ee, ;a.n;d the fact that no .change of vife^v 
point, possihl,e •.uiji.der the .circurh stances, " 'gavfe any .real 
change of view, .saying and excepting theMaborious ' (jle- 
scent to the .riyef, mu|t, jt seepis to me (I^fr's. does 
not quite agree Wiith m.e jhere) , alway^s serve 'to prevent its 
becoming so popular w,^th the ordinary sight-seer and 
tourist as are' NjjigafPa, YjCl^^qw^tone, Yosemite, or marii 
other places pf the si^vt. ' 
Old Ephf§ Turke^y. 
"Hit des like dis, olc man," sa,id Aunt Mandy, "if yo' 
don' git me a hicky fob Thanksgivin' yo' kin des go wid- 
oiit dinnah, fo' we ain' goin" to haA'e nO hog meat Thanks- 
givin' diiinah in dis cabin." And she piished back her 
chair and rose from the table where the subject of a 
Thanksgiving dinner had been under di.scus.sion. Uncle 
Eph also arose and carrying his chair to the corner of 
the big open fireplace where he usually rested after the 
labor of the day, ,s^t him down to silent meditation. 
He had exhausted every ' argument he could bring to 
bear upon tlie subject in an effort to convince his wife 
that they could riot afford a turkey 'for Thanksgiving 
dijrner, and that Qi\e qf ter fat jliens, or" even hog meat, 
would do. ' ' ■ . .- , 
She had po.sitively declined to .sactilice one 01 her ^canu 
stock of hens, and indigna,ntly refused to 'prepare a din- 
ner of hog meat fpr the day of rejoicing. ■ ' 
While smoking and poncle,ri'ug the w'eighty problem of 
hmv to become honestly possessed of a turkey 'withdht 
being possessed with the necessary 'currenf coin of the 
realm, his gaze wandered to the opposite wall of ihe ca'bin 
and rested on his old gun hanging on its pegs'.' ' 
"There, now, why not?" he thought There were wild 
turkeys in the swamp, to be had for the killing, .^nd 'al- 
though his eyes and legs were ijot as good as they h'ad 
been, perhaps he might manage it. "Is I got en'iiy'p'ow- 
ciah en shot, Mandy?" he suddenly inqui.re,<jl." " The old 
woman was surprised at the question, and iier curaosLl:y 
was aroused, but she was still feeling in,digpa.tioh and 
resentment. ' . 
"I dunno if yo' is or not." she replied. "Hit in de box 
if vo' i.s." Slipping into his shoes, and laying his pipe 
on the fireboard, the old man crossed the room to where 
the box of miscellany stood and commenced an over- 
hauling of its contents that finally resulted in the finding 
of a small quantity of powder (of doubtful age and 
quality), a charge or two of coarse shot, and some caps. 
Putting these several articles conveniently together in a 
corner of the box where they could be't-une at when 
wanted, he then climbed on a chair and lifted down the 
gun, 
it was an old musket, not handsome originally, time 
,vorn, abused and rusty. Sounding with the ramrod, he 
found _ it empty. Lifting and dropping the ramrod sev- 
eral times, he then withdrew it, inverted the gun an4 
struck the barrel with the flat of his hand, 
