is the one just above where we first saw the
river--coming in; then there's this mile of quiet water. From that
point on the Yuga flows into a gorge--or rather one gorge after another;
and sometime they'll likely be almost as famous as some of the great
gorges of your country. The walls are just about straight up on each
side, and of course are absolutely impassable. I don't know how many
miles the first gorge is--but for nearly two hundred miles the river is
considered impassable for boats. Two hundred and fifty miles or so below
there is an Indian village--but they never try to go down the river from
here. A few white men, however, have tried to go down with canoe-loads
of fur."

"And all drowned?" Ben asked.

"All except one party. Once two men went down when the river was
high--just as it is now. They were good canoeists, and they made it
through. No one ever expected they would come out again."

"And after you've once got into the rapids, there's no getting out--or
landing?"

"Of course not. I suppose there are places where you might get on the
bank, but the gorge above is impassable."

"You couldn't follow the river down--with horses?"

"Yes, in time. Of course it would be slow going, as there are no trails,
the brush is heavy, and the country is absolutely unexplored. You see it
has never been considered a gold country--and of course the Indians
won't go except where they can go in canoes. Some of the hills must be
impassable, too. I've heard my father speak about it--how that if any
criminal--or any one like that--could take down this river in a canoe in
high water--and get through into that great, virgin, trackless country a
hundred miles below, it would be almost impossible to get him out.
Unless the officers could chase him down the same way he went--by
canoe--it would take literally weeks and months for them to get in, and
by that time he could be hidden and located and his tracks covered up."

"And with good ambushes, able to hold off and kill a dozen of them, eh?"
Ben's hands shook, and he locked them behind him. "They call that
country--what?"

"'Back There.' That's all I've ever heard it called--'Back There.'"

"It's as good a name as any. Of course, the reason they were able to
make it through in high water was due to the fact that most of the rocks
and ledges were submerged, and they could slide right over them."

"Of course. Many of our rivers are safer in high water. But you
seriously do