364 
The Colorado River 
yon is very narrow, they came upon a peculiar phenomenon. 
They heard a loud roar and saw breakers ahead. Thinking it a 
bad rapid, they landed immediately on some rocks, and, going 
along these to examine the place, the breakers had disappeared, 
but as they stood in amazement there suddenly arose at their 
feet the same huge waves, twelve or fifteen feet high and one 
hundred and fifty feet long, across the river, “rolling down¬ 
stream like great sea waves, and breaking in white foam with 
a terrible noise.” These waves, as was later ascertained, were 
the result of a cloudburst on the headwaters of the Little 
Colorado, and indicate what might be expected in here in the 
event of a combination of such waves with the highest stage of 
water. The next day they were diminished, and the river fell 
somewhat, but it was still so powerful they could barely con¬ 
trol the boats and had a wild and tumultuous ride, sometimes 
being almost bodily thrown out of the boats. By this time 
their rations Avere getting low, but by pushing on as fast as 
possible they reached Diamond Creek on March ist, where 
supplies were planned to meet them. Remaining there ten 
days to recuperate they went on with only eight men, three 
concluding to leave at this place. The Second Granite Gorge 
begins about eighteen miles above Diamond Creek, and is 
about thirty miles long. It is much like the First Granite 
Gorge, being the same formation, excepting that it is shorter 
and that the declivity of the river is not so great. From Dia¬ 
mond Creek down to the end of the canyon is about fifty miles. 
It is a bad stretch, and contains some heavy falls which, as the 
river was still somewhat high, were often impossible to get 
around, and they were obliged to run them. The stage 
of water in both these Granite Gorges makes a great dif¬ 
ference in the character of the falls. For example, in the 
Second Gorge, when Wheeler made his precarious journey 
in 1871, he was able, coming from below, to surmount 
the rapids along the sides with two of his boats, because 
the water happened to be at a stage that permitted this, 
whereas Stanton found it impossible to pass some of them 
without running, and Powell found the one that split his party 
the same way. So it appears that one day finds these gorges 
