the canyons. These are Uinta, Zuni, San Francisco, Henry, Pine
Valley, Uinkaret, Beaver Dam, Virgen, Navajo, La Sal, and others,
some reaching an altitude of more than twelve thousand feet. The
highest peaks of these, and of course those of the Continental Divide
on the east, which furnish a large proportion of the water of the
Colorado, and the Wind River Mountains on the extreme north, have
snow-banks throughout the summer. To show how dependent the Colorado
is on the high peaks for its flood-waters, I will mention that it is
not till the snows of these high altitudes are fiercely attacked by
the sun in May and June that the river has its annual great rise. It
would take only a slight lowering of the mean annual temperature now
to furnish these peaks with ice caps. The rainfall in the lower arid
regions is from three to ten inches, increasing northward to fifteen
and twenty-five. On the peaks, of course, it is much greater. Almost
any climate can be had, from the hot arid to the wet frigid. On the
lower stretches, from Mohave down, the thermometer in summer stands
around 112 degrees F. a great deal of the time, and reaches 118
degrees F. Yet Dr. Coues said he felt it no more than he did the
summer heat of New York or Washington.* In winter the temperature at
the bottom of the Grand Canyon is very mild, and flowers bloom most
of the time. One November I descended from the snow-covered top of
the Kaibab to the Grand Canyon at the mouth of the Kanab, where I was
able to bathe in the open air with entire comfort.

* I was at the Needles one summer for a brief time, and the air
seemed very oppressive to me.


There are six chief topographical features, canyons, cliffs, valleys,
mesa plateaus, high plateaus, mountains. There are two grand