p here and land
freight. There is an officer stationed here. See those low white walls?
That is where he lives. Captain Bernard of the Fifth Cavalry. It's quite
a place; come out and see it."

But I did not go ashore. Of all dreary, miserable-looking settlements
that one could possibly imagine, that was the worst. An unfriendly,
dirty, and Heaven-forsaken place, inhabited by a poor class of Mexicans
and half-breeds. It was, however, an important shipping station for
freight which was to be sent overland to the interior, and there was
always one army officer stationed there.

Captain Bernard came on board to see us. I did not ask him how he liked
his station; it seemed to me too satirical; like asking the Prisoner of
Chillon, for instance, how he liked his dungeon.

I looked over towards those low white walls, which enclosed the
Government corral and the habitation of this officer, and thanked my
stars that no such dreadful detail had come to my husband. I did not
dream that in less than a year this exceptionally hard fate was to be my
own.

We left Ehrenberg with no regrets, and pushed on up river.

On the third of September the boilers "foamed" so that we had to tie up
for nearly a day. This was caused by the water being so very muddy. The
Rio Colorado deserves its name, for its swift-flowing current sweeps by
like a mass of seething red liquid, turbulent and thick and treacherous.
It was said on the river, that those who sank beneath its surface were
never seen again, and in looking over into those whirlpools and swirling
eddies, one might well believe this to be true.

From there on, up the river, we passed through great canons and the
scenery was grand enough; but one cannot enjoy scenery with the mercury
ranging from 107 to 122 in the shade. The grandeur was quite lost upon
us all, and we were suffocated by the scorching heat radiating from
those massive walls of rocks between which we puffed and clattered
along.

I must confess that the history of this great river was quite unknown to
me then. I had never read of the early attempts made to explore it, both
from above and from its mouth, and the wonders of the "Grand Canon" were
as yet unknown to the world. I did not realize that, as we steamed along
between those high perpendicular walls of rock, we were really seeing
the lower end of that great chasm which now, thirty years later, has
become one of the most famous resorts of this country and, in fact, of