in three or four miles, we came to a violent rapid. A landing was
easily made and the boats lowered by lines. Below this the canyon was
much wider, and the rapids were not difficult. By the time the camping
hour came, we had put behind seven miles with five rapids and the extra
bad one where the boats were lowered. No whirlpools were encountered,
the stage of water not being favourable for them. As previously
noted, every stage of water produces different conditions, so that the
navigator on this river can never be certain of what he will find. Our
course through Whirlpool was neither difficult nor dangerous, as we
were able to make landings at the few bad places and ran the rest of
the rapids without damage of any kind. Only one camp was made in this
beautiful gorge, and there we slept, or tried to sleep, for two nights.
Myriads of ants swarmed over the spot and made every hour more or less
of a torment. They extended their investigations into every article
brought out of the boats. During the whole time their armies marched
and countermarched over, around, and through ourselves and everything we
possessed. We saw a number of mountain sheep in this canyon, but owing
to the quickness of the sheep, and the difficulty of pursuing them over
the wild cliffs, which they seemed to know well, we were unable to bring
any down.

Our second day's run was uneventful through a superb gorge about
twenty-four hundred feet deep, and at a late hour in the afternoon, just
after we had run our worst rapid in fine style, we perceived the great
walls breaking away, and they soon melted off into rounded hills,
exquisitely coloured, as if painted by Nature in imitation of the
rainbow. The river spread out, between and around a large number of
pretty islands bearing thick cottonwood groves. The shallowness of
the water caused our keels to touch occasionally, but the current was
comparatively slow and we were not disturbed over it. Powell hesitated
as to calling this place Rainbow or Island Park, the choice eventually
falling to the latter. The valley is only three or four miles long in
a straight line. Shortly before sunset we had the disappointment of
reaching the end of it, and immediately below the place where we camped
the rocks closed sharply together once more. Here Powell determined that
he would push ahead of the main party, in order to make his way, as soon
as possible, to the Uinta Ute Agency, in order to communicate with the
outer