Arizona republican., 1899-04-01

tions. which belong above this carbon ferrous strata in the series, are found in their place at the be- ginning of the northern ter races referred to. The theory is fortified by many evidences supplied by examination of the district, where, more than anywhere else, mother earth
 has laid bare the secrets Of her girl hood The climax in this extraordinary example of erosion is, of course, the chasm of the Grand canyon proper, which. were the missing strata re- stored to the adjacent plateau, would be 16,000 feet deep. The layman is apt to stigmatize such an assertion as a vagary of theorists and until the ar gument has been heard it does seem incredible that water should have carved such trough in solid rock. Briefly. the whole region appears to have been repeatedly lifted and sub merged, both under the ocean and un- der fresh-Nater sea, and during the period of the last upheaval the river cut it's gorge Existing as the drainage system of vast territory it had the right of way, and as the plateau de- liberately rose befcre the pressure of the internal forces, slowly, as grind the mills of the gods, through a period not to be measured by years, the river kept its bed worn down to the level of ero sion; sawed it's channel free, as the saw cuts the log that is thrust against it. Tributaries, traceable now only by dry lateral gorges, and the gradual bus nc less effective process of weathering did the rest.
 Beginning on the plateau level on the canyons brink, the order of the rock formations above the river according to Captain Dutton. is as follows:
 1. Cherty limestone, 240 feet
 ?. Upper Aubrey limestone, 320 feet.
 3. Cross-bedded sandstone, 3S0 feet
 1. Lower Aubrey sandstone. 950 feet.
 ,. Upper red wall sandstone 400 feet.
 6. Red wall limestone. 1900 feet.
 T. Lower carEoniferous sandstone, $50 feet
 s. Quartzite base of carboniferous, 1SO feet
 9. Archaean.
 The total vertical depth is more than mile.
 A practical way of descending the canyon wall is kncwn to exist upon either side in but two or three places along it's entire length. One of these, the Hance trail. begins within half a mile of the canyon camp. which point thus offers the remarkable cCmbina- ton of a magnificent view from the rim and a feasible trail to the river. Only by descending into the canyon can one arrive at anything like a comprehen- | Son of it's proportions and the descent | cannot be too urgently commended to every visitor who possesses a stcut heart and good lungs. It is destined to become more famous than the ascent | of the Alps
 For the first two miles the Hance trail is sort of Jacobs ladder, zigzag- ging at an unreIenting pitch down | steep and nearly uniform decline ! caused by a sliding geological fault and | centuries of 1rost and rain. It is safe and practicable for pack animals and | for sound pedestrians; ladies have oc- casionally made the descent, but at present it necessitates too hurried a scramble in places to attempt :t conf- dently on horseback At the end of two miles a comparatively gentle slope i is reached, known as the first level, some 2,500 feet below the rim; that is to say-for such figures have to be inn