The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1858-01-30
Lieut.. Beale, in various directions, to exam
inc the face of the country.
AUBREY's CANON.

q inc the face of the country.
AUBREY's CANON.
;, In one of these, led by Lieut.. Beale hin
S self, they discovered what was believed
l. be the celebrated canon Of Aubrey, descril
:, ed by him in his notes. An idea may I
: gathered of the stupenduous depth of tn
i great chasm, from the fact that standing o
c its prccIpitous brink, a mueket ball dischal
5 ged, occupied nearly half minute in reacf
c ing the bottom at its shallowest point. Thi
: was peoved by frequent experiments. II
: width was SO great, that a must ball di:
: charged horizontally, fell about a quarter {
, the way across. This chasm appears to b
vast sink in the general level of the couu
try, the result of some ancient volcanic con
, vulsion. They descended to the bottom
| and explored it to its mouth. In it the.
discovered the Indian trail of the Mojav
villages.
EXTRAORDINARY NATURAL FEATURES.
Some peculiar characteristics in the fea
lures Of this section Of country are worth,
Of remark. The road extending over tn
mesasresembled more work Of art, like tn
roads constructed by the Roman General
and Napoleon, than natural formations
The Palisade formations, on all hands, loom
ed up ike gigantic Notifications. Sfngula
to say, the volcanic rock was carpeted witt
the most luxuriant blue gamma grass, al
fording food for animals, as nutrcious a:
oats Only thin stratum of soil laid be
tween this and the rock. Specimens of pet
rifactiOns OF the most wonderful description
presented themselves. And there, on the
western bank of the Rio de la Nara, they
found rock rbout twenty five feet square,
in the heart of which was a large petritied
tree. This fragment was detached from the
man body, in which the boughs were dis
tinctly visible. They also, found in the be-
ginning Of their new route, inscriptions on
the rocks, evicing the progression Of the
writers from the Ideagraphc to the Phonet-
{ ic character. This argues avery high de-
gree Of cultivation among the ancient in
habitants of these regions, as do their forti-
tications.
ARRIVAL AT THE COLORADO RIVER.
/ The guides having proved unworthy of
/ trust, the;expedition was preceded by parties
detached in search Of water, which was inya-
( riably found, showing that, up TO this point,
I the route is in every way available for emf
/ grant trains. il being scarcely necessary to
/ double teams in a single instance. Nothing
! OF consequence occurred from this point un
| Ill the arrival Of the expedition to the Colo
| Guilty, camping on its banks, for the first
/ time, on the 10Th of October, having ridden
/ over the country on either side Of the route
! for considerable distance.
They encamped IN a grove Of cottonwood,
: on the eastern bank. in the immediate vicin-
I ity of the Molavc villages, OF course the
camp was filed with the Indians, who were
: ready to trade in corn, which is plentiful in
I the valley, and exchanged by the sayages
for blankets, beads and trinhets. The pas
! sage Of the Colorado was made without any
! hostilities, and in the same place by which
Lieut. Whirple's expedition passed.
CROSSING TIE RIVER
The baggage was conveyed over in an In
dia rubber boat, brought from New York
for the purpase. The river is here about
200 yards bread, bUt has several bars in its
bed, which enables animals TO rest The
current runs about four miles an hour Ii
is only necessary TO swim the animals fer a
shert distance ON the eaztern side.
SWIMMING THE CAMELs.
AT this place the camels themselves refut-
cd some assertions which have been conf
Gently made of ihem-that they are unable
to swim. Father huek in his work des-
cribes his detention upon the Yellow river
in Oh IA, Oh account Of the difficulty OF
crossing his camels, for, he says, " the ami
Inrl cannot swim" The opinion has also
been supported by many writers. On this
occasion, Lieut.. Beale determined to try the
experiment, led one of the large toulos TO the
bank of the river, and had him driven into
the water As soou as he found himselfou
Of his depth, he struck off without hesitation
for the opposite shore, swimming high and
with perfect ease. The rest of the train were
=.
Of them, apparently, had the slightest diff
Guilty In the passage.
PORTION OF THE GRaAT DESERT.
Here the travellers found the first sandy
country on their route. The grass was
poor and thin. and water at longer intervals
than they had yet found it. They were en-
abed however, to procure sufficient sup
ply, without any suffering, and continued
their course due west. until they struck the
the Mojave rivera distance Of about eighty
miles-;hat is to where water appears flow
ing in the bed OF the river. This is nor
thern continuation of the great American
Desert af New Mexico, but presents less Of
the sterile and desolate features of the south
ern or main body of the desert, ann is inf
niteiy preferable to travel over.
ARRIVAL AT Los Angeles.
The route now followed the Mojave on its
eastern bank until the party reached the
Mormon road, WHICH they kept, crossing the
San Bernardno Mountains at the CaJon
Pass, and continued the journey ov T the
well known road from San Bernardino to
Los Angeles, where they arrived on tho
Goth November.
NATURAL FACILITIES OF THE ROUTE.
The above resume ofthe interesting notes
of Mr. Porter, independent of the ethuolJ Jgi-
cal and other details which they afford, are
sufficient TO exhibit the fact that the route
passed over by the expedition is entirely
feasible for Immigrants to this State. There
is no section of it that pack animals are not
perfectly able to traverse easily, without
hindrancc for want of water or grass. AS
sheep route it is unsurpassed. Hitherto the
Gila, and the consequent terrOrs OF the des-
ert. have been encountered for this purpose.
From this time there is no cause for the use
of that route, for sheep may be driven, in
number, from New Mexico into the South
crn country, in good condition, with plenty
offeed the entire way, without fear Of In
dians. -
TRIUMPHANT SUCCESS OF THE CAMEL. EXPERT
.MEAT.
The experiment of the camels and drom-
edaries has proved triumphant success
In opposition to the opinions of many Unit
ed States officers, they have shown them
selves admirably adapted for travelling the
wastes of Western America. In some in
stances these wonderful animals went a
week, and in one, ten days. without water
not because it did not exist on the route,
but from lack of desire for it; and on the
tenth day the animals drank with compara-
tive indifference. They could 60, if requir-
ed, over two weeks without tasting water.
Their food is of the simplest and coarsest
description; they eat as they progress, what
ever grows on the wayside, bending their
and fhrncfinnr their hnadS aliL "a