Durango semi-weekly herald., 1902-02-24

with no unusal adventures during the
morning. easily filling our creeis be-
fore noon, and delivering the hsh to
Louis. with instructions to hurry back
and join Onofra. The farther we pro-
gressed down the river. the more rug
ged and precipitious. the canon De
came Higher and sleeper rose the
walls. and gorge narrowed until
there was but room for the rushing
waters. How shall l describe the
awful grandeur OF the chasm into
which we were admitted? There Is
an abundance OF adjectives for use on
such occasions. but superlatives. even
are worthless unless they can aid the
brought to grasp something OF the aw-
full grandeur of the scene. writers
have exhausted the descriptive powers
upon the justly famed Royal Gorge
Of the Grand Canon OF the Arkansas,
on the line OF the Denver and Rio
Grande Railroad. but we were now In
a groge far more SURPRISING In all the
elements Of superb Royalty. and we
saw II untouched by the hand OF man.
lust as 1t came from the hands OF the
Master Workman. Shall l, then. at
tempt to reveal the magnifcence OF
this sacred retreat7 We who saw 1t
will long continue to preceive It with
that inward eye which Is the bliss OF
solitude" We will not do more. if.
In the advance OF civilization or
the necessities of commerce. this can
on is opened up to the eyes OF men
on pleasure bent. there will be many
pens to vie with each other In descriD-
Ing to the world its beauty and grand
eur. Till then. let 1t rest. The
principal thing which impeded and de-
iayed our progress were the rocks. OF
varying size. which filled the river
bed and choked the gorge. We have
all seen rocks, but to few has 1t been
given to see such remarkable a.
sortment as All the canon OF the
Brazo. The Titans. who rule in the
canon. seem to have caught the pre-
vaiiing souvenir craze. and have sue
ceeded in gathering together as curl
Gus and unique collection of stones
as IL would be possible to conceive OF
of all sizes. from that Of an ordinary
cobble stone to huge boulders as large
as a meeting house. and similar to
each other only in being worn perfect
ly smooth and slippery. Aside from
making a magnificent collection"
they appear to be disposed In the can
on with the special purpose of imped-
Ing and tripping up any presumptu-
ous mortal who should dare advent IL e
within those precincts. In this pur-
pose they succeeded admirably.
In the more precipitous portion OF
the canon are two cataracts about
half mile apart. the upper one the
more stupendous. Here several
giant boulders are heaped upon each
other, forming an impossible barrier
from below. over this breastwork
the torrent dashes with an awful roar.
descending seventy-fve or hundred
feet In few successive leaps. 1t
was with difficulty that We found a
way. partly around. partly between.
and partly under these mighty rocks
which stood as sentinels guarding the
upper canon, and shortly afterwards
we made the less difficult passage OF
the lower falls 1t WAS now 4 o'clock,
and warned by the failing day in the
canon. that we had already tarried too
long, we unjointed our rods to set our
selves to the task of escaping from
the canon before nightfall. We had
caught about 700 trout including the
catch of the previous evening. but we
could in the same time have caught
twice this number II we could have
done justice to the stream. instead OF
being obliged to devote SO much time
to climbing boulders. At 4 o'clock.
when we quit fishing. We were more
than two miles from the mouth Of the
canon but the distance gives no idea
of the task before US. We thought
that In three hours we could surely
make our exit, but We miscalculated
| our task, and night at last found us
with nearly a mile of rocks, boulders,
pools and rapids still before US. Fa-
| tigued as we were from our two days
continuous strain. and with two Of the
party ILL., We may be excused for feel.
ing some misgivings as We saw the
light fading from the rift Of sky over
head and the shadows darkening on
| the canon wallis.
What should we do? We were al.
ready wet to the skin from repeated
falls In the river. But little wood
could be gathered. To stop in the
canon meant to stand UP all night.
and had had but q few mouthfuls OF
food since breakfast of the previous
day. To go on. however. meant con
stant peril. for false step on the slip
perry rocks could easily result in brok-
en- bones. If not q broken neck. As
for an occasional dive in the river, we
did not mind that. The expectation,
however, of finding a warm fire and
abundant supper At the mouth Of the
canon decided US at last to press for.
ward. This was easier decided upon
than done. The darkness became In
tense. The walls OF the canon as
sumed awful forms to the imagina.
| tion. A few stars looked curiously
down from above and served only to
intensity the deep shadows around us.
We could follow each other only with