Palaeozoic time, or to the spring of the great geologic year, while
the canon is of the late autumn. Could my native hills have replied
to my mute questionings, they would have said: "We were old, old,
and had passed through the canon stage long before the Grand Canon
was born. We have had all that experience, and have forgotten it
ages ago. No vestiges of our canons remain. They have all been worn
down and obliterated by the strokes of a hand as gentle as that of a
passing cloud. Where they were, are now broad, fertile valleys, with
rounded knolls and gentle slopes, and the sound of peaceful
husbandry. The great ice sheet rubbed us and ploughed us, but our
contours were gentle and rounded aeons before that event. When the
Grand Canon is as old as we are, all its superb architectural
features will have long since disappeared, its gigantic walls will
have crumbled, and rolling plains and gentle valleys will have taken
its place." All of which seems quite probable. With time enough, the
gentle forces of air and water will surely change the whole aspect
of this tremendous chasm.

On the second day we made the descent into the canon on mule-back.
There is always satisfaction in going to the bottom of things. Then
we wanted to get on more intimate terms with the great abyss, to
wrestle with it, if need be, and to feel its power, as well as to
behold it. It is not best always to dwell upon the rim of things or
to look down upon them from afar. The summits are good, but the
valleys have their charm, also; even the valley of humiliation has
its lessons. At any rate, four of us were unanimous in our desire to
sound that vast profound on mule-back, trusting that the return trip
would satisfy our "climbing" aspirations, as it did.

It is quite worth while to go down into the canon on mule-back, if