arrival to run through it with the rest in the boat. Before doing so,
however, I made an examination of the cañon. The rapids below it,
particularly the last rapid of the series (called the White Horse by the
miners), I found would not be safe to run. I sent two men through the
cañon in one of the canoes to await the arrival of the boat, and to be
ready in case of an accident to pick us up. Every man in the party was
supplied with a life-preserver, so that should a casualty occur we would
all have floated. Those in the canoe got through all right; but they
would not have liked to repeat the trip. They said the canoe jumped
about a great deal more than they thought it would, and I had the same
experience when going through in the boat.

"The passage through is made in about three minutes, or at the rate of
about 12-1/2 miles an hour. If the boat is kept clear of the sides there
is not much danger in high water; but in low water there is a rock in
the middle of the channel, near the upper end of the cañon, that renders
the passage more difficult. I did not see this rock myself, but got my
information from some miners I met in the interior, who described it as
being about 150 yards down from the head and a little to the west of the
middle of the channel. In low water it barely projects above the
surface. When I passed through there was no indication of it, either
from the bank above or from the boat.

"The distance from the head to the foot of the cañon is five-eighths of
a mile. There is a basin about midway in it about 150 yards in diameter.
This basin is circular in form, with steep sloping sides about 100 feet
high. The lower part of the cañon is much rougher to run through than
the upper part, the fall being apparently much greater. The sides are
generally perpendicular, about 80 to 100 feet high, and consist of
basalt, in some places showing hexagonal columns.