ortunate thing for him as it turned out, but we who were at the oars
did not for the reason before mentioned,--that they interfered with the
free handling of the boat. The men of the Canonita took positions
where they could observe and profit by our movements. Then out into
the current we pushed and were immediately swept downward with
ever-increasing speed toward the centre of the disturbance, the black
walls springing up on each side of the impetuous waters like mighty
buttresses for the lovely blue vault of the September sky, so serenely
quiet. Accelerated by the rush of a small intervening rapid, our
velocity appeared to multiply till we were flying along like a railway
train. The whole width of the river dropped away before us, falling some
twenty-five or thirty feet, at least, in a short space. We now saw that
the rapid was of a particularly difficult nature, and the order was
given to attempt a landing on some rocks at its head, on the left. At
the same instant this was seen to be impossible. Our only safety lay
in taking the plunge in the main channel. We backwatered on our oars to
check our speed a trifle, and the next moment with a wild leap we went
over, charging into the roaring, seething, beating waves below. Wave
after wave broke over us in quick succession, keeping our standing-rooms
full. The boat plunged like a bucking broncho, at the same time rolling
with fierce violence. As rapidly as possible we bailed with our kettles,
but the effort was useless. At length, as we neared the end, an immense
billow broke upon our port bow with a resounding crack. The little craft
succumbed. With a quick careen she turned upside down, and we were in
the foaming current. I threw up my hand and fortunately grasped a spare
oar that was fastened along the outside of the boat. This enabled me to
pull myself above the surface and breathe. My felt hat had stuck to my
head and now almost suffocated me. Pushing it back I looked around. Not
a sign of life was to be seen. The river disappeared below in the dark
granite. My companions were gone. I was apparently alone in the great
chasm. But in a moment or two Powell and Hillers, who had both been
pulled down by the whirlpool that was keeping all together, shot up like
rockets beside me, and then I noticed Jones clinging to the ring in the
stern. As we told Powell, after this experience was over, he had tried
to make a geological investigation of the bed of the river, and this was