easing the draught by about six inches, a serious matter at this
extremely low stage of water. "It is probable," says Ives, "that there
is not one season in ten when even the Explorer would encounter one
fourth of the difficulty that she has during the unprecedentedly low
stage of water." At one rapid, after the boat by hard labour had been
brought to the crest, the line broke and she at once fell back, bumping
over the rocks and finally lodging amidst a mass so firmly that it
required half the next day to pull her out. The second attempt to
surmount the rapid was successful, and they were then rewarded by a
fierce gale from the north, detaining them twenty-four hours, filling
everything with sand, and dragging the steamboat from her moorings to
cast her again upon the rocks. When, at last, they could go on they came
after a short time to a canyon deeper and grander than any they had
yet seen, called Black Canyon, because it is cut through the Black
Mountains. Ives was uncertain, at the moment, whether this was the
entrance to what was called Big Canyon (Grand Canyon) or not. The
Explorer by this time had passed through a number of rapids and the
crew were growing expert at this sort of work, so that another rapid a
hundred yards below the mouth of the canyon was easily conquered. The
current becoming slack, the steamer went gaily on toward the narrow
gateway, where, "flanked by walls many hundreds of feet in height,
rising perpendicularly out of the water, the Colorado emerged from the
bowels of the range." Suddenly the boat stopped with a crash. The bow
had squarely met a sunken rock. The men forward were knocked completely
overboard, those on the after-deck were thrown below, the boiler was
jammed out of place, the steampipe was doubled up, the wheelhouse
torn away, and numerous minor damages were sustained. The Explorer had
discovered her head of navigation! They thought she was about to sink,
but luckily she had struck in such a way that no hole was made and they
were able by means of lines and the skiff to tow her to a sandbank
for repairs. Here the engineer, Carroll, and Captain Robinson devoted
themselves to making her again serviceable, while, with the skiff, Ives
and two companions continued on up the deep gorge. Though this was the
end of the upward journey, so far as the Explorer was concerned, Johnson
with his steamboat had managed to go clear through this canyon.

Rations were at a low stage, consisting ent