d a large rock on the
brink, where the boat lodged till I was able to leap ashore, or rather
to another rock where there was a footing, and make fast the line. It
was a close shave. The Canonita, forewarned, was able to let down
to this place, from whence we made a portage to the bottom the next
morning. When once started again, we found ourselves in a very narrow
gorge, where for four or five miles it was impossible to stop on account
of the swift current which swept the boats along like chaff before a
gale, swinging them from one side to the other, and often turning them
round and round in the large whirlpools despite every effort we made
to prevent this performance. In fact, we had no control of the craft in
this distance, and it was fortunate that there was nothing worse to be
here encountered. The whirlpools were the most perfect specimens I ever
saw. Usually they were about twenty feet in diameter, drawing evenly
down toward the vortex, the centre being probably about eighteen inches
to two feet below the rim. The vortex at the top was about six to ten
inches in diameter, diminishing in five or six feet to a mere point at
the bottom. Our boats were twenty-two feet long, and as they were turned
around in these whirls they about reached across them, while we could
look over the side and see the vortex sucking down every small object.
The opposite of these was the fountains, or boils, where the surface was
exactly the reverse of the whirls: a circular mass of water about twenty
feet in diameter would suddenly lift itself a foot or two above the
general surface with a boiling, swirling movement. As I remember them
they were usually the forerunners of the whirlpools.

The river was still on the rise, scoring at the last camp another three
feet. With such a dashing current the time we made where we were not
compelled to move cautiously was admirable. On this day fourteen miles
were traversed, we ran twenty-three rapids, and, what pleased us most,
we saw the granite disappear, and the comfortable-looking red strata
were again beside us. The river widened somewhat, and was now about
two hundred and fifty feet. A cascade was passed on the 7th, which we
recognized as one Beaman, who had climbed up to it during the winter,
from the mouth of the Kanab, had photographed. From here to the Kanab
was ten miles, and we sailed along with lightened hearts, knowing
that our sadly depleted and half-ruined stock of rations would soon
b