The Colorado River 
i6 
came on float, and so we went forward. And although the com¬ 
pany would have returned back, yet for all this I determined to go 
forward and to pursue our attempted voyage. And we passed for¬ 
ward with much ado, turning our stems now this way, now that 
way, to seek and find the channel. And it pleased God that after 
this sort we came to the very bottom of the bay, where we found a 
very mighty river, which ran with so great fury of a stream, that we 
could hardly sail against it.” 
Here, then, began the acquaintance between the European 
and the river now known as the Colorado of the West. The 
experience of Alargon was immediately typical of much that 
was to follow in the centuries of endeavour to arrive at an inti¬ 
mate knowledge of this savage torrent. 
