74 EXPLORATION OF THE CANONS OF THE COLORADO. 
Then a run of two miles, and another portage, long and difficult; 
we camp for the night, on a bank of sand. 
August 6. Canon walls, still higher and higher, as we go down through 
strata. There is a steep talus at the foot of the cliff, and, in some places, 
the upper parts of the walls are terraced. 
About ten o'clock we come to a place where the river occupies the 
entire channel, and the walls are vertical from the water's edge. We see a 
fall below, and row up against the cliff. There is a little shelf, or rather a 
horizontal crevice, a few feet over our heads. One man stands on the deck 
of the boat, another climbs on his shoulders, and then into the crevice. Then 
we pass him a line, and two or three others, with myself, follow; then we 
pass along the crevice until it becomes a shelf, as the upper part, or roof, is 
broken off. On this we walk for a short distance, slowly climbing all the 
way, until we reach a point where the shelf is broken off, and we can pass 
no farther. Then we go back to the boat, cross the stream, and get some 
logs that have lodged in the rocks, bring them to our side, pass them along 
the crevice and shelf, and bridge over the broken place. Then we go on to 
a point over the falls, but do not obtain a satisfactory view. Then we climb 
out to the top of the wall, and walk along to find a point below the fall, 
from which it can be seen. From this point it seems possible to let down 
our boats, with lines, to the head of the rapids, and then make a portage ; so 
we return, row down by the side of the cliff, as far as we dare, and fasten 
one of the boats to a rock. Then we let down another boat to the end of 
its line beyond the first, and the third boat to the end of its line below the 
second, which brings it to the head of the fall, and under an overhanging 
rock. Then the upper boat, in obedience to a signal, lets go; we pull in 
the line, and catch the nearest boat as it comes, and then the last. Then we 
make a portage, and go on. 
We go into camp early this afternoon, at a place where it seems possi 
ble to climb out, and the evening is spent in "making observations for time." 
August 7. The almanac tells us that we are to have an eclipse of the 
sun to day, so Captain Powell and myself start early, taking our instruments 
with us, for the purpose of making observations on the eclipse, to determine 
our longitude. Arriving at the summit, after four hours' hard climbing, to 
