Arizona weekly miner., 1877-04-20


 over tLe boulders in foaming waves. Drif,
 timber also obstructs the channel, and it is
 rushed downward and with crunching noise
 grludS against the precipitous sheer of the
 cliffs.
 Al Lees Ferry the soldiers constructed me
 a ratt fourteen feet in length, double joint d
 and five feet broad It was built of what
 ever timber We could pick up, and though q
 very rough affair to trust ones life on for
 such trip, was considered substantial. The
 Indians, after the soldiers left, taking with
 them my animal, refused to proceed, saving
 that the journey could not be made. and |
 was inclined to abandon the expedition also,
 but was stung into carrying out the project
 hy their tauntS on the imposSiGility of sue cess. as they alleged there was too much water in the river and liable to rise How did tha adventure pioceedl We'll. it pro- cceded very rapidly. had provisions with me. and a rifle and pole, and l poled my self of from the bank in a daredevil spirit. The stream swept the raft off gradually in- to its center, and l was adrtt beyond the possibility of recall. IL went very peas antly for couple of hours, and rather en- Joyed the outset of the rafting, but going down more rapidly than harg for. and being knocked from side to side, and tum- bled about on the raft and drcnched by oc- casional duckingS, did not think il very pleasant. l had vain longingS for peaceful Snlourn at home and constant hankeTing for & safe landing somewhere on shore where 1 could scramble up; but on each side of me there was nothing but dead wall, tow ering far overhead in d glIa>tly Sort of gran deur. and only leaving thin streak of sky for opening Thus entered on
 JOURNEY FOR THREE DAYS AND HALF.
 Throughout the day il was a deep gloam ing. save when the sun at meridian slanird down for A brief interval on the mighty flow of boiling waters; the night scarcely brought with II change; and ever rcsounding in the ears was the dull roar of the riref. l l had little eye for either the science ar the | mystery of the phenomena: my mind was absorbed on the po>>;bibilities of safety. i My provisions and gun had not been lashed | to the raft, and in very short time after the | start all was lost in an eddy that spun me | round and round and up set the unmanage- | able thing Was atloat on. The pole l had | to guide the raft went with the rest. and | nothing Was left but the raft, and myself | drenched, shivcrnE and dcjectcd. Through | out the three days and a half aaS without | sleep; coma of indifference stole over me and lt was quiet if not the rrpr>c of slum- l Der, but every time that raft turned a Somcr- l saut in n rapid ciulg to it with d dcspera- | tion and tenacity inde>crihabc. and al- ! though under water IT half a minute, the | blanks would right again and come to the | surface to pick up my breath. The want of | sleep dld moi knock me under much. for it | k not the first time that have been Sevsrt ] days without SnonZc or crust, but ! from side to side of the prccipiccs l was knocked terribly, gctiin" bruises and al- ways being ln a tremor lest the raft and | should part company. IL was the low con- dition of the river that saved me IL kept me in the middle of the stream generality. and if it had been in iloadcd st.ie the raft would have been smashed to SplintcrS No place toland un showed itself Here ard there little flats, 100 yards long and five or six broad We're seen, but there was no foothold up the rocks. and would have been slow but inevitable death to be stranded on these.
 THE LITTLE CoIoRAro.
 set out to find the mouth of the Little Colorado. may have seen it but could not locate it definitely, and doubt whether Major Powell, with all the years he spent in exploring, could locate it within thirty miles of the real point of confluence. But l soon knew that had passed the Little Colorado by the muddy condition of the water. In common parlance, the Little Colorado is about three parts sediment its name signi- ies red" had little interest in the mat Ter, however. gave my undivided atten- ton to myself. and did some pretty god praying and some tall swearing. Hundreds Df times | went rOund in the swirl of thp ! current, hardly daring to come out alive; ' put clung 10 the raft instinctively when it ', ,spsized, and ere long would find myself