Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1873-11-19
Misesllany.
Passage of the Canyon.

Seemingly but few miles IN front OF US
we readily imagine we are about approach
ing some enchanted castle, where we shall
not fail to find the rest, as we'll as food
which we so much need, when we sudden
ly find ourselves upon the edge Of can
Won 1000 feet in depth. As we gaze down
into the depths Of this dark abyss, feel
inc Of terror creeps over us, as we vainly
strive to pierce the deep gloom that
shrouds its rocky sides, and verges into
total darkness beneath US. The walls are
perpendicular, and of blood-red color.
No vegetation is anywhere to be seen
nothing but the stones around US, and the
grayish-white alkali on the surface of the
plain on which we stand, with its surround
ings of crags, pinnacles, towers, and
masses of rock rising far above us, until
their SUBMITS pierce the clouds on the one
side and this black, yawning abyss just be
fore US. Cochise moves to the left, and
there we find a narrow shelf of rock jut-
ting out from the perpendicular walls, just
wide enough to stand upon. We follow
its course with our eye until it is lost in
the gloom; and yet this is the only way
of crossing the canyon before US. Cochise
now dismounts and from him endeavor
to learn something of this wonderful gorge
which we are about to cross; but, Indian
ike, he is reticent, and reveals nothing
As we descend into the gloom, we feel as
if we were about to bid good-by to the
earth and the sunlight, and to enter the
abode of the fends Our imagination
peoples the chasm with myriads of imps
and gnomes. Just before US, the point of
rock standing so prominently resembles
a huge giant ready to crush US in his ter
rlble grasp for our audacity in presuming
to venture within the realms guarded SO
seduousiy by his misshapen form. On,
on we 90, now avoiding a rock In our path
here sending pebble over the brink Of
the abyss at our side. The gloom becomes
more intense as We descend. We cast oul
eyes upward; a perpendicular wall on
either side of Us, and far above US a mar
row band of light, against which the rag
ged and SCARED edges Of the gulf seeming
ly almost meeting, stand out in bold re
lief, giving US the impression that we are
about to be crushed between the teeth o.
two gigantic saws.
Not sound is to be heard, save the
hesitating footsteps of our mules, wher
suddenly Cochise, who is some distance il
advance, utters an oath in Spanish. Th'
opposite side of the canyon echoes it, anC
it is carried from side to side, from poin
to point, from rock to rock, from crag tt
crae. with fearful distinctness, till it re
sembles, to our ears, the cries Of demons
who. we are sure, sur round us and lnhabl
this direct descent to the home OF the L0
IntcrHoS, Still we 90 on, still continue t,
descend. Soon we hear the faint murmu
of water, as, far below US, it forces it:
way among the rocks and boulders thai
form the bed of the river, and we feel re
joiced that the poor animals SO CAREFUL y
following us are so soon to be refreshed
with a draft Of cool water after theil
tedious Journey over masses of rock, baked
clay and alkah powder. lnstinctively We
look behind US, and we see that they, too
have heard the grateful sound and are hur-
rying along, as though impatient to taste
the refreshing GOODNESS.
Then comes the thought, that frequent
", when suffering from thirst, mules have
been known to stampede at the smell oI
water. Suppose this should be the case
with ours ? What, then, would be oul
fate? We cast our eyes over the brink oi
the yawning chasm, and then back upon
our mules, as if to measure distance anC
strength. The sight of their erect ears
distended nostrilS and glaring eyes does
not tend to reassure US, and we look II
vain for some spot wide enough to enable
them to pass US in safety. Nothing but a
solid perpendicular wall above US, and
empty space for 600 feet below. We must
20 on. There is no turning back. Tht
gloom increases with every step. Th'
walls around assume in the darkness
thousand grotesque and mlsshapen forms
The obstacles in our pathway become NOR
frequent and dangerous. The darkness be
comes more and more intense. We cal
uo longer see the path for more than tou
Oh five feet ahead of Us.
Now, as it abruptly turns an angle, W.
lose sight Of it altogether, and we feel
though the next step might preclpitate u
into-what? And so We 90 on, hesltat
ing, doubling, fearing, until, after hours o
tedious toll, such as [ hope never again t
experience, we finally reach the bed OF tn
river that has worn this mighty wrinkle Il
the face of Mother Earth. After allowln
our thirsty animals time to drink, and I'LL
inc oar canteen and leathern bottles wit
fresh water, we follow down the bed OF tn
stream for a mile, cautiously feeling ou
IL. / hoe
bling against boulders Of granite, an
over stones and masses Of trap, that hav
been precipltated from the vast height
above US until at length we reach tn
point where We are to begin the ascen
WeariIy toiling up the steep path, plckin
our way over rocks and assures, guile
and stones, all the while gaining ligh
though losing strength, we at last reac
the level OF the plain that we lett IN tn
morning, to fnd ourselves in the twilight
only four miles below the point where W
began the descent, having been more tha
ten hours making the journey.
Here, upon the very brink OF this fear
tul chasm, we throw ourselves upon tn
ground, declaring we can go no further
Here We must camp for the night. n
vegetation, no grass for our mules
water, NO food-nothing but desoatlo
We are no nearer the enchanted cast
than We were before we made the passae
Of this irghtful canyon. The pipes
that same grand old organ look down upo
u. The same buttes, mesas, pillar
towers, and needles of rock, with canyon
ravines, chasms and assures, surround u
that surrounded us in the morning. The
We saw them as the beams Of the rislr
sun gilded their summits now we 81