CLIMBING THE WALL. 59 
pinnacles ; and ten thousand strangely carved forms in every direction ; and 
beyond them, mountains blending with the clouds. 
Now we return to camp. While we are eating supper, we very natu 
rally speak of better fare, as musty bread and spoiled bacon are not pleas 
ant. Soon I see Hawkins downJby the boat, taking up the sextant, rather 
a strange proceeding for him, and I question him concerning it. He replies 
that he is trying to find the latitude and longitude of the nearest pie. 
July 20. This morning, Captain Powell and I go out to climb the west 
wall of the canon, for the purpose of examining the strange rocks seen 
yesterday from the other side. Two hours bring us to the top, at a point 
between the Green and Colorado, overlooking the junction of the rivers. 
A long neck of rock extends toward the mouth of the Grand. Out on this 
we walk, crossing a great number of deep crevices. Usually, the smooth 
rock slopes down to the fissure on either side. Sometimes it is an interest 
ing question to us whether the slope is not so steep that we cannot stand on 
it. Sometimes, starting down, we are compelled to go on, and we are not 
always sure that the crevice is not too wide for a jump, when we measure 
it with our eye from above. Probably the slopes would not be difficult if 
there was not a fissure at the lower end; nor would the fissures cause fear 
if they were but a few feet deep. It is curious how a little obstacle becomes 
a great obstruction, when a misstep would land a man in the bottom of a 
deep chasm. Climbing the face of a cliff, a man will walk along a step or 
shelf, but a few inches wide, without hesitancy, if the landing is but ten feet 
below, should he fall ; but if the foot of the cliff is a thousand feet down, he 
will crawl. At last our way is cut off by a fissure so deep and wide that 
we cannot pass it. Then we turn and walk back into the country, over the 
smooth, naked sandstone, without vegetation, except that here and there 
dwarf cedars and pinon pines have found a footing in the huge cracks. 
There are great basins in the rock, holding water ; some but a few gallons, 
others hundreds of barrels. 
The day is spent in walking about through these strange scenes. A 
narrow gulch is cut into the wall of the main canon. Follow this up, and you 
climb rapidly, as if going up a mountain side, for the gulch heads but a few 
