de Nims as comfortable as possible
till the next day, when we loaded one of the boats to make him a level
bed, and constructing a stretcher of two oars and a piece of canvas, put
him on board and floated down river a couple of miles--running two small
rapids--to a side canon, which led out to the Lee's Ferry road."

The next day, after discovering a way out of the deep ravine, one of the
party tramped thirty-five miles back to Lee's Ferry, where a wagon was
obtained for the injured surveyor. Eight of the strongest men of the
party then undertook the task of carrying the injured man a distance of
four miles, and up a hill 1,700 feet high. It is indicative of the
extraordinary formation of the Grand Canon that the last half mile was
an angle of 45 degrees, up a loose rock slide. The stretcher had to be
attached to ropes and gently lifted over perpendicular cliffs, from ten
to twenty feet high. The dangerous and tedious journey was at last
accomplished, and the trip continued.

Finally the unexplored portion of the canon was reached. For thirty
miles down Marble Canon, to the Little Colorado River, the most
beautiful scenery was encountered. At Point Retreat, the solid marble
walls stand perpendicularly 300 feet high from the river edge. Behind
these walls the sandstone lies in benches, and slopes to an aggregate
height of 2,500 feet. Above the narrow ravine of marble, the color is
mostly rich gray, although the presence of minerals has in places
imparted so many tints that quite a rainbow appearance is presented.
Caves and caverns relieve the monotony of the solid walls. Here and
there a most delightful grotto is seen, while the action of the water
rushing down the cliff sides has left little natural bridges in many
places. Countless fountains of pure, sparkling water adorn the smooth
rocks, and here and there are little oases of ferns and flowers, which
seem strangely out of place so far down into the very bowels of the
earth.

Below Point Hausbrough, named in honor of Peter M. Hausbrough, who was
drowned during the first exploring trip, the canon widens rapidly. The
marble benches are replaced by strata of limestone and between the river
and the rocks green fields and groves of trees become common. The view
from the river, looking across this verdure, with sandstone rocks for
the immediate background, and snow-capped mountains in the distance, is
extraordinary in its magnificence and combinations. Between the grand
j