a narrow gorge, that, from the elevation of the plateau, seems more like a
mere slit in the rock than a gorge. Louis Boucher assures me that it is so
narrow and deep that he has seen stars from its recesses at midday, and I
record his statement in spite of the fact that eminent astronomers have
told me that such a sight is impossible. Anyhow, the effect of that
stupendous descent is such as to almost make the rider on the trail see
stars, though there is no danger to any one with ordinarily steady nerves.
Two miles out, one sees the continuation of one arm of the Bright Angel
fault in the shattered strata of the red sandstone, some masses of which
are toppled over at the base of Pima Point. It was this fault that made the
talus slopes, down which the Boucher Trail descends, and also the great
eroded recess of Hermit Basin.

Columbus Point. The nose of the plateau on which we have been traveling,
now directly under Yuma Point, is named Columbus Point, and from this spot,
where several noted American painters have made paintings destined to
become memorable, the outlook in three directions, east, west, and north,
forms one of the noblest of all the panoramas of the Canyon my eye has ever
rested upon. Shiva's Temple is almost directly opposite, as we look towards
the northeast. Stretches of the river are exposed east and west, where
raging rapids send up their roar to us. Overhead is a great castellated
structure, surmounted by a lesser building, with a round tower,
embattlements and all the architectural accompaniments of an elaborately
equipped castle of ancient Europe. An attempt to describe all the objects
seen in the heart of the Canyon is needless. Suffice it to say that the
panorama takes in every tower, temple, butte and structure, seen from Point
Sublime on the north side; or any of the points on the south side, from
Havasupai Point on the east, to Yavapai Point on the west; and includes
Wotan's Throne, Vishnu Temple, and the wall of the Little Colorado to the
faraway east.