El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1901-01-12

Evidence of animal life hitherto so
rare now began to appear. A lizard
was noted and two immense ravens.
half hopping. half flying, defied us to
shoot them Everywhere along the
muddy banks beaver slides were found.
and the willows had been cut by them.
Three deer were also seen, while now
and then a covey of blue quail scram-
bIed up the stony banks and scattered
in the cactus-shrub. A hooking bird
sang in the thorny bush. Only one
who Is accustomed to the animal life
of the desert can imagine the joy with
which we greeted these 1owly friends.
Beyond the little Stillwell Desert we
entered Temple Canon. The severity
of it's walls was frequently broken by
ravines. so that at nearly every bend
there stod before one a beautifully
sculptured mountain, golden in the
sunlight with pinnacled SUBMITS. and
cliffs carved into exquisite panels and
grottoes. i-lai -
Our journey was just half accom-
plished and we had crossed to the
eastern side of the Cordilleras, and
were upon the Atlantic slope. The
general direction of the river now bent
due north and although the true
mountains of folded structure had
ceased, the stream continued to be in
dented to a depth of two thousand
feet or more in canons OF limestone
cut out of the great plateau which
TANKS the eastern side of the Mexican
sierra. This lower course is almost
continuous canon Del Rio. and from
an esthetic point of view is even more
picturesque and beautiful than the por-
ton OF the river already described
Beyond Temple Canon the cliffs re-
cede, leaving a valley from one to five
miles in width between the distant
walls. Through huge gap in these
the mouth of NIaravillas Creek had
been cut This is a horrible desert ar
royo leading northward for one hun
bred miles or more to Marathon 1t
has a channel sufficient for the Hud-
son. but is utterly void of water. Now
and then. in the intervals of years,
great foods pour down its stony bot
tom. giving the boulders and other
desert debris a further push toward
the Rio Grande and the sea- Such
floods. however. are so unusual and
sporadic that i have never found
man who knew this stream to run
from source to mouth. No profounder
testimonial to the Slowness OF natures
great geological process can be found
than these vast waterless waterways.
The mouth of Maravillas Creek marks
the end OF the great northerly stretch
of the Rio Grande, and from there on
the algebraic Sum of the direction of
the rivers course is almost due east
to the mouth of the Pecos.
Below the mouth of the Maravillas
the river continues in a narrow valley
between the now more widely separat-
ed cliffs of the canon, which are great
buttes and mesas. the dissected fringe
OF a high limestone plateau above us.
The cliffs are cut into many lobes and
buttes. .Or5 Occasionally ,one of these
stands out and apart from the main
cliff-line in lonely gradeur. OF this
nature is Castle Butte. notable land
mark This rises fully fifteen hundred
feet aboyelthe river: It's circular, fiat
top. the sQuare-cut escarpment cornice,
and gracefully sloping pediment
are beautiful illustrations of the won
derfyij Isymmetrieal n sculpture seen
along the river. These wider vistas
are only a. BRIEF duration. llSoon the
rocky walls again approach each other
and theI sTeama Tesunes Its crowded
channel between vertical walls, pre-
senting only at, rare intervals place
where one can land and find a small
spot to camp. cfs 1Cchj
We had now been nearly a month
on herrfver., and the necessities Of the
occasion forced us to push on as fast
as possibie-fn the steep canons there
had always been a tense feeling Of anx-
iety, accompanied by longing to es-
cape their dangers as soon as pos
sible. This feeling. as well as our lin
tied commissary.1 drove us on. '.tn
Shortly after making the turn to the
east. and in the depths of beautifully
terraced canon. we came upon another
copious hot spring running out of the
bluff upon low bench, where it made
a large. clear pool of water. We reach
ed this place one Sunday noon. The
sight of this natural bath of warm
water was tempting TO tired and dirty
men, and here we made our first and
only stop for recreation. After lunch,
most OF the party proceeded to the
warm pool. and, stripping, we literally
soaked for hours in its delightful wat
ers, stopping occasionally to soap and
scrub our linen. While here the party
INDUCED in guessing the height of the
inclosing cliffs. The air was SO clear
in tbs country that one always under
estimates the magnitude of the relief
None of our estimates exceeded over
five hundred feet. Seeing a good place
for the first time in all our course to
scale the canon walls. | climbed them
and measured the exact height, which
was sixteen hundred and fifty feet.
The view from the summit was superb,
revealing the panorama. of the uplands,
which is completely shut out while
traversing the chasm below.
In the eastern course OF the river
the rock forms and sculpture become
more varied. z and one is constantly
surprised by new types OF sculpture
and scenery. ,sszFlor miles we passed
through a perpendicular canon the
cliffs of which were serrated by rough
the carvernous fluctuations ID1 and
great vertical seams, between which
the Lodges were molded into ragged