ough the ground at a distance appeared to be level, we had a
considerable ascent to make before we reached the foot of the cliffs.
As we looked ahead, it seemed impossible that we should ever get through
the massive rocks piled up before us, but my father, confident that an
opening would be found, persevered, and at length we saw some way off,
what looked a mere cleft in the rock.

"That's the mouth of the canon," he exclaimed, "though it seems so
narrow, it is wide enough for our cart-wheels and that is all we
require."

We eagerly pressed forward and in a short time entered a gloomy defile
where the rocks towered up on either side, and in some places hung
completely over our heads, but as they had stood for centuries, we had
no fear of their tumbling down while we were passing beneath them.

On and on we went, the rocks becoming higher and higher, and forming
precipitous cliffs, their summits many hundred feet above us. It was
evident that the mountain had been rent asunder by some mighty
earthquake without the assistance of water.

The ground on which we travelled rose but slightly. As we continued our
course the scenery became more gloomy and barren, and, except on the
ground beneath our feet, scarcely a blade of grass or plant of any
description was to be seen growing in the clefts of the dark and sombre
rocks. The atmosphere, seldom warmed by the rays of the sun, felt
chilly in the extreme, and depressed our spirits, and had it not been
for the assurance of my father, that we should discover an outlet on the
other side, some of the party would, I think, have turned back, under
the belief that we should only arrive at last before some vast cavern,
or towering cliff, beyond which all further progress would be barred.
Even the Dominie, I saw, did not half like it, but he was too much
attached to my father to hesitate about proceeding. Our chief anxiety
was about water, as yet not a single cascade had we met with, nor the
smallest rivulet trickling down the sides of the mountains. So lofty
were the rocks, that we could nowhere see even the tops of the mountains
above us. We concluded that we were at some distance from the snowy
peak we had discovered the day before, which would probably have sent
down a stream to afford us the water we required. We stopped to rest at
noon, where the gorge opened out slightly and the ground bore a
sufficient amount of grass to enable our horses to crop a scanty meal.
As we w