Arizona weekly citizen., 1892-06-18

at right angles, until the cavern under
 meath looked like death itself as we
 shot towards it. The iInpinging points
 were always fianked by danger
 ous whirlpOols, whose vortlces were
 were often two to four feet below the
 rim. The highest waves were just of
 the sharp angles, and while seemingly
 so to the novice, they were not the
 most dangerous, however. Just around
 under the lee of the points small gravel
 bars were occasionally found, but they
 were not frequent They were our
 life preServers in case of upsetting,
 ripping holes in the boat, or other ac-
 cldent. No paddling was needed to
 get ahead in the lightning express
 current, but all energy was bent in
 making from point to point, so we
 really ferried backward and forward.
 while the current carried us along.
 The boats bow was, therefore, all
 ways pointing toward the canyon wall
 which terminated in the point we
 were trying to make. But in going
 through the high waves this perpen-
 dlcular position to the current was
 peri 'ous, as the curling breakers could
 easily have upset much better made
 craft, so here we swung around. At
 11:2O we came to clean, sheer fall of
 five to six feet on the outward, sweep ing curve that faded to rapid at the
 salient point of the wall opposite. The
 rapid on our left eurled around to the foot of the fall in a whirlpool greater
 than any yet seen; a perfect cone of
 rushing water, fifty feet across, that. grasping great log, spun it around like straw and sucked it out of sight in the vortex. We were not over twenty yards from it when seen and we all expected to go over 1t, but un- usual paddling put us to the bar op- poSite. where we dropped the boat around by painters. Just below we launched where the canyon seemed opening. Undoubtedly the escape at the whirlpool fall was our closest that day and narrow enough to satisfy even a dime-nOvel hero. Notes could not be taken in the rapids owing to the boats motions, so we j0tted them down at bars where we rested what we remem- bered from the last stopping place. At this bar I find recorded in my books "A perfectly fearful forenoon, with enough danger to turn a hair mat tress gray" From here, seven miles from our morning camp, we could see a wider and more open valley ahead, which we reached in few minutes. It was the Chittyna of the Indians, the river flowing less and clearer water than the one we had just descended. It was running high waves but very long ones, not at all dangerous, the current dropping to six or seven miles an hour. We camped after making | h of rapids having drawn out into nearly fifty, which. could we have viewed them ahead, all concurred we would rather have tried packing around them than attempt what we had done. It was lucky, indeed, we could not thus have viewed them. It was a grateful points projecting into the river, instead came to the confluence of the at 10 sighted the Atna Indian village of Taral, and to our satisfaction found that it was we'll peopled. and still heartier dinner of | tea, some graham bread and a great 1 slab of dried bacon each. It does not | oCClA SO NOuuIOuSly OdldJdDlc Just l now, looking back at it, but if I could | combine it's palatability at that time | with it's present price in the great cities would not exchange the combination | for the richest mine in the world. He | sold us all the bacon he. had, a small | piece, and some flour, while another Indian gave us salmon; altogether we | were faring unusually well. l was | greatly surprised to find that Nicolai 'pOke Chinook well enough to get | llong with him. This jargon had be- ieved from my former experience on | he Pacific coast did not extend above | Alaska. NicOlai told us l le expected to assemble a party of | Indian fur traders in a week to ten lays and descend the Copper river ta
 he trading stations near it's mouth, |, md that we could join the party. We low saw that if we had packed out we would have been too late to take ad- Tantage of this, the last chance of the -ear for native help to assist us to the oast. A little discussion disclosed he