in the way of
interference. A cork jacket could be worn easier when rowing, and I
would recommend it, but the thing of first importance is to have the
right kind of boats, and know how to handle them. An humble spirit
is also a great safeguard. After starting, the usual number of slight
accidents occurred, but there was nothing to interfere with our steady
progress into the silent, lonely land, where the great Dragon, whose
tail we were now just touching, tore the air to tatters with his
writhings. Our light oars were snapped like reeds, but luckily we had
plenty of extras, and some ten-foot ones were cut down to eight, and
these proved to be strong enough. On the morning of the 23d we were
treated to a snow-storm and the air was very cold. It soon cleared,
however; and the sun shone again bright and warm, and we went on
rejoicing. The next day we reached the mouth of Black's Fork, and after
this the river was deeper and we were less troubled by grounding, the
boats being only three inches out of water at the gunwales. The
area between Black's Fork and the Green was strewn with beautiful
moss-agates. I longed to secure a quantity, but this was out of the
question. Geese and ducks floated on the water around us, but with our
rifles it was difficult to get any. There was not a shot-gun in the
party. We soon came in sight of the superb snow-covered Uinta range,
extending east and west across the land, and apparently an effectual
barrier to any progress of the river in that direction, but every day
we drew nearer to it. Some of our men shot three deer, and we had fresh
meat for a day or two, "jerking" all we could not consume in that time.
There was plenty of game along the river here and for a long distance
down, but we were not skilled hunters, nor did we have time to follow
game or manoeuvre for it, so our diet was mainly confined to what Andy
could produce by his manipulation of the supplies we carried. The day
following the one that gave us the deer, the river became very winding,
and a fearful gale blew across it, carrying sand into our eyes and some
water into our boats. In the late afternoon we bore down on a ridge,
about one thousand feet high, which extended far in both directions
athwart our course. It was the edge of the Uinta Mountains. At its very
foot the river seemed to stop. It could be seen neither to right nor, to
left, nor could any opening be detected in the mountain, except high
up where Powell pointed