n elephant!" cried Jim.

There was something appalling in a power that could play marbles with
huge rocks.

"That's what helps to cut these gorges," said Jim.

I can give no adequate idea of this canyon. It was wonderful. In some
places the walls were so perpendicular that they seemed to bend over us.
But you must not imagine that the walls were all alike, and always
perpendicular. For this was not so.

There was a wonderful variety. There were rounded summits of rocks
standing back from the river giving the effect of their full majesty.

The walls averaged nearly three thousand feet. The prevailing color was
the red sandstone but there would be broad bands of grey. Towards the
lower end the walls were shattered into thousands of pinnacles rising in
their piercing splendor towards the blue above.

Occasionally we swept past a narrow side, or lateral canyon. Our one
quick impression was of narrow gloom between overwhelming walls.

"I wish we could stop long enough to investigate some of these side
canyons," said Jim, "they look mighty interesting."

"There are no way stations on this line," I responded, "this is a
through train."

It was with a feeling of tremendous relief that we finally emerged from
this canyon safely. Battered and strained, but still alive. "The
Captain" was still seaworthy and stanch but she showed many marks and
wounds of the terrible descent.

CHAPTER XXV

A VISITOR

Our next canyon of importance was just the opposite of the one we had
just passed through. It was as the change from bitter winter to smiling,
sunny summer.

What a relief and pleasure it was to get into the canyon on below the
terrible gorge from which we had just emerged.

The walls were not so high by half as the upper canyon, but were of the
smooth red homogeneous sandstone, in which were formed caves, grottoes
and curious formations by the action of the water.

This homogeneous sandstone was like smooth broadcloth, compared to the
rough serge of the granite or the tweeds of the thin bedded sandstone.
There were also groves and glen with broad-leaved trees as well as
pines.

"This seems like a picnic," said Tom, "after tumbling and twisting and
turning through that old gorge back there."

"You just wait," said Jim, "till we come to the granite gorge of the
Colorado, then you will have something to talk about."

"I won't wait," said Tom, "I guess I'll go home now."

"Stay, stay, fair sir," adjured Ji