Shadow of Starvation 
301 
Dragon was faced again. They tried to find some remnant of 
the lost cargo, but it had completely vanished. Everything 
had been swept away forever. All the party were despondent, 
one boat was badly damaged, and the diminution of the ra¬ 
tions made the outlook gloomy. The damaged boat was 
therefore sent with a crew back to the place at the mouth of 
the canyon where the barge had been left. With the excep¬ 
tion of Wheeler and Gilbert none of the party believed the 
cataracts now ahead could be surmounted. 
“Mr, Gilbert and myself,” writes Wheeler, “propose to reas¬ 
sure the men by taking the first boat across the rapids. Portage of 
the stores is made to the wash at the head of the rapids, which con¬ 
sumes the greater share of the day, and half an hour before twilight 
a rope is stretched and the emergency prepared for. The entire 
force is stationed along the line, and the cast-off is made. In five 
minutes the worst part of the rapid is over, and just as the sun sinks 
gloomily behind the canyon horizon, the worst rapid is triumphantly 
passed amid the cheers and exultations of every member of the 
party.” 
The following day, October 13th, they reached the narrowest 
part of the river, a channel less than fifty feet wide, but the 
canyon on top is, of course, very broad. With many portages 
and other arduous toil the party slowly climbed up the river, 
sometimes making less than three miles, sometimes a little 
more. The rapids grew worse and worse, and the smooth 
stretches in between shorter and shorter. On the 15th Gil¬ 
bert’s boat broke away, and he and Hecox were swept so far 
down the stream that the rest could not reach them. They 
were obliged to remain where they were through the night 
with nothing to eat. The main camp was at a place where 
there was barely room for the men to sleep amongst the rocks. 
They were all gloomy enough, and starvation was beginning to 
show its dreaded shadow amidst the spray. On the i6th they 
were compelled to carry the tow-line fully a hundred feet above 
the water to get it ahead. At another portage the rope broke 
and the boat was instantly thrown out into the rapid by the 
fierce current. Fortunately she was not capsized, and they 
