Coming into camp in advance, passing through a grove of pine on the margin of a little creek, I was met face to face on the path by two magnificent buck elk, one of which I wounded, but lost in the woods. Shortly afterward Mr. Smith started up a small bear, which also got away. The ground was everywhere tracked by the passage of herds of elk and mountain sheep; and bear sign was everywhere visible. In the evening, accompanied by Mr. Washburn and Mr. Hedges, I followed down the channel of the creek to the brink of the Grand Cañon. Passing for a mile down an open glade with a heavy coating of rank, green grass, and dotted with clumps of pine, we came to a bed of whitish substance extending for a hundred yards on each side of the creek and through which its channel ran. Having no chemical tests we were at a loss to classify this deposit; some thought it volcanic ashes. This formation abounds in the vicinity in deep beds underlying the ridges of the valley and overlaid by masses of lava almost entirely composed of obsidian. A mile below this point, small, hot springs of sulphur, sulphate of copper, alum and mud, were found in great numbers; and soon we came to an opening in the woods, at the foot of a bluff, where there appeared a system of boiling-hot springs of muddy water, with clouds of vapor escaping therefrom. The large ones were five in number, of which the first measure 25 by 30 feet, hot, with slight ebullition in the center; water slate color, and not flowing. The second, 4 feet in diameter; boiling violently and flowing; water dark brown, muddy, but without deposit. The third, 20 by 25 feet measurement, brown, muddy water, boiling up three feet in the center, with an occasional violent rush of vapor to the height of 100 feet. This spring flows periodically. It lies close under a projecting bank of sulphureted calcareous formation; and in one corner of the spring rises a sort of honey-comb deposit, of beautifully-variegated colorings, and composed of sublimated sulphur on a bed of metallic luster resembling silver. This deposit is several feet in height, and would weigh many tons. The vapor is forced through the interstices of this honey-comb with a loud, hissing sound. Above this spring, 30 feet on the bank, is a fourth, similar, and measuring 7 by 8 feet; and beyond, another, of black, paint-like consistency, which deposits a crater from the ejected material. Around these larger are dozens of smaller springs, vapor jets, and mud spouts. The ground in the vicinity is in layers, like pie-crust, which break through or settle when trodden upon, giving one a sensation of extreme uncertainty, as a rush of hot, sulphur vapor invariably rises from the fracture. It was with extreme difficulty and some little risk that we obtained specimens of the deposits.

Continuing on our way three miles farther we came to a dense growth of small timber on the brink of the Grand Cañon, and were stopped by its sheer wall, which fell off 1,500 feet to a bench, grown up with pines, through which ran an apparently narrow chasm so deep that the waters could not be seen nor heard. It was a second edition of the bottomless pit. The small stream had hollowed out a channel through the lower bench several hundred feet in depth, additional; but even looking down through this fissure did not enable us to see the Yellowstone. After resting on the brink, and gazing long with wonder into the fearful gulf below, we returned to camp, having had a walk of ten miles, profoundly impressed with the laborious nature of our
undertaking and more than satisfied with the opening up of the campaign.

Ninth day -- August 30. -- We moved at 9 a.m., in a southerly course, with a detour to the right to avoid a marshy ravine, and in three miles struck the head of the low valley seen from Mount Washburn yester- Go to next page