The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1885-08-15
STTPENDOUS RIFT.
o,uou OF THE COLORADO,
IL FIVE HUNDRED MILES LONG.
lam Depth of $500 Feet, and
. ,rsrage That Exceeds 5000
A Muddy Ribbon in
the Depths.
rCor Boston Transcript

o.ob,bly few rivers are less generally
lSo ,Sen the Colorado of the West
5 ~. in Colorado and Wyoming, it runs
i ls- a country of peerless beauty
s.O V' nleasant valleys. rocky m Jun-
rDs high plateaus and arid desc Is,
i sDeiy debOuching into the California
AZ nearly 5000 miles from its starting
49, II drains an area of nearly 400, 90
i,asno miles 1t is the river of canOns.
9,am the junction of the Green and
c"Ud rivers to Col,ill it has but few
t-osE, in what forms probably the most
eun4ndeus rift in the world. Five hun
i,d miles in length is the cut, with
S.dmum depth of $500 feet, and an
0srsge that exceeds 5000. Americans
N loo apt to overlook their own coun-
~ and travel to other lands in search of
i picturesque To the geolOgist. the
snest student of nature the artist. or
+ % he mere ST. ht seer, this country offers
Inducements unparalleled.
4 Looking south across the House lock
nsy, in northern Arizona. one notices
4,isE broken bluffs, about ten miles dis
nat apparently about twenty feet high.
. Only FIVE or six of these Otc scattered
airegular intervals. There lies the canon
Riding across the level plain toward the
tufs one finds it hard TO conceive how
such aesnOn can exist, with so few signs
q existence. Here and there we are
obliged to make long detours, to avoid
& pEning CrevasSes that streams have
Eal on their downward rush to the Col
asio The country here, probably, es-
aped the grand glacial epoch
a elsewhere narrowed this con
lhslt level, and filed up the post
iitary wash outs. Until we come within
Alf mile of the canon we get no hint
Of its existence. Gradually it unfolds to
lsaleT advance, until on its brink its aW-
III Mblimity bursts upon US. AS we
Mk out upon projecting tongue of
oCk, We gradually, dimly, begin to ap-
Pscale the chasm. Great rock walls
Nsand Us on every side stretch down
S1ld, seemingly fathomless.
iG below, looking like a muddy rib
Gn' hes the river At first sight the
nnd Is incapable of grasping the di-
tensions OF this gorge. Men whom /
nave seen declared stoutly, THAT can't be
we We colorado, for the Colorado is g good
!" ISids across, and that creek isn't over
y IeeI at most. " Far below us floats
alY q bald eagle; so far that he re-
STuleS mere speck, and yet he isn't
.Af"ay down. A stone about as large
ones list turns the course of the river
saSeEain point. Were we down there,
IA s.Aioula md that stone to be about
s %es 'lileS as large as the Boston post
thu. ~ we loose soil of the banks grow
49, 1yiss4ads OF century plants, with tall
4. reminding me of the pictures of
a. S Ss"S 81 eandlesticks / used TO see in
hEsS nlOle at home when a youngster.
Au up one of these, we send it whist.
psrs uo"n INTO the abyss. 1t grows
rs'ss s, ana smaller until it vanishes. and
snss' pun OF dust announces it has
ns,s',, ana yet these "yant" often
I0Ssie SIX feet across.
4 M Si where We stand is the mouth
~ I ~ colorado Chiquito. Where it en-
ipph VIC parent canon it is of the same
d ni = the latter; and yet it starts scarce
iie.n, ,es away, and up to about 100 miles
he v.n LOWS on top of the ground.
Cast ma@n; " t1ese canons furnish the
kC FfS adieen roek-paintings ever be.
I'd Dib piS ~, and gray porphyry, white
'sinesi iI rna limestone. broad and narrow
alsS,D IaIole' sandstone from vermillion
aspS gay and sturdy old granite
ninle, ' 1' many strata in colors no
ri4 Nh aare initiate At sunset and sun.
asO,s ~ me Sunbeams strike slantinglv
sQilsSu.e rocky face. the effect is indie
Sese t6eo,- IL Is as if the gates of heaven
jsper rOpl open, and the city. with its
ktale usi'S and dazzling gateways, shone
xhu Ssnl long before the earliest date
dated ita history this river fretted and
ss pluneo5iC cAy banks While Europe
sYav tse N ignorant night, this coun.
Ag 70 ~, growth of civilization second
NQd nS,;. OF today. While the Old
d dgelIa.sdl We're yet in their infancy.
wee Sdsn,Ss on the banks of this stream
ksture In casting metals in archi.
:atiAerv~ sculpture, in gold and silver
kIs, sqd in mosaic uaintino T 1
siasled TTslhgR have never been
sOlAerD mi me river witnessed theiI
Y de from ~, and saw the sacred
- he wbi. Ie estufas on its banks. Ii
~ tRanc Ill l~lRq of northern tribes.
~ Lunis and Se q whip upon the Mouuis
',SSrs5 that oSl forced them to dwell In
y desneG;ea ased the mild Coconinas un.
pes c s~u, they found refuge ia the
fetched rarO aud breaks where :
nant still exist.