2 I 2 
The Colorado River 
numerous bad rapids to run. In the afternoon the Emma 
Deafly in attempting to navigate one of the more favourable- 
looking foaming descents, was swamped, pitching Powell and 
the others headlong into the roaring flood. They were for¬ 
tunately able to cling to the boat till they floated into more 
tranquil waters, where they managed to climb on board, sig¬ 
nalling the other boats to land before the plunge. This they 
could do, and the boats were brought down by a portage, 
which took all the rest of the day. The approach of darkness 
compelled a halt for the night on some rocks where they 
had barely room enough to lie down. Three much-needed 
oars had been lost with the capsize of the Dean. These were 
sadly missed in the rough water that surrounded them the 
following day, so at the first large pile of driftwood they made 
a landing and secured a cottonwood log for oar-timber. While 
the oars were making, Powell and his brother climbed up to 
where some pinyon trees were seen growing, and collected a 
quantity of gum with which to calk the leaky boats. They 
needed all the preparation possible, for the rapids now came 
ever thicker, ever faster, and more violent. The walls also 
grew in altitude from the thirteen hundred feet of the Junction 
to fifteen hundred feet, then to eighteen hundred feet, nearly 
vertical in places. 
An examination of the barometric record was now made to 
see how much they had by this time descended toward sea- 
level, and, by comparison, about what might be expected in the 
river below. The conclusion was that though great descents 
were still ahead, if the fall should be distributed in rapids 
and short drops, as it had been above, and not concentrated 
in great plunges, they would meet with success. But there 
always remained the possibility of arriving on the brink of 
some high fall where no footing on either side could be ob¬ 
tained, and where a fierce current would prohibit a return. In 
such a case the exploration would have ended then and there. 
The newspapers before this time had printed a story of the 
expedition’s collapse. The outer world supposed that Powell 
and all his men but one had been destroyed, though A. H. 
Thompson wrote to the Chicago Intei'-Ocean, which first pub- 
