. The top of the continent; the story of a cheerful journey through our national parks. His body perhaps would be found, and thescientific notes saved. There came a day when food was reduced to alittle wet flour. That night four of the men went offby themselves to talk, and then returned and reportedto Powell that they were going to desert. They ex-plained that they thought the gorge at that pointcould be climbed, and that they preferred to take thechances of finding a way up over the rim rather thanto go on with the others to certain destruction. ** Powell made no objections. He believed thei
. The top of the continent; the story of a cheerful journey through our national parks. His body perhaps would be found, and thescientific notes saved. There came a day when food was reduced to alittle wet flour. That night four of the men went offby themselves to talk, and then returned and reportedto Powell that they were going to desert. They ex-plained that they thought the gorge at that pointcould be climbed, and that they preferred to take thechances of finding a way up over the rim rather thanto go on with the others to certain destruction. ** Powell made no objections. He believed theirchances of escape over the rim were very small, andtold them so. There were no villages on the desertedplain above the rim where food could be had; andthere were hostile Indians. But the deserters, nowfairly terror-stricken, were not to be deterred. Powell THE GREATEST DITCH IN THE WORLD 241 offered them half of his handful of wet flour, but theydeclined it. The next morning they started on theirperilous attempt, and Powell and his faithful fiveclimbed into their boats and went Camping in the Grand Canyon Hope was now almost abandoned. That day thelast of the food was eaten, and the desperate party,with perhaps many days of danger and hardship be-fore them, toiled manfully on. But the very next 242 THE TOP OF THE CONTINENT morning their boats emerged at the foot of the canyon,where they fomid food and safety. And what became of the four deserters? askedJack. They were never seen again. In his book, *TheExplorations of the Colorado River of the West,Powell stated they were killed by Indians. He pub-lished the Indians confessions. Is that a true story? asked Margaret. It is history, said Uncle Tom. Powell after-ward became Director of the United States GeologicalSurvey, and a very famous man. We saw yesterdaythe rock shrine erected by the Department of the In-terior to his memory. The night the Jeffersons spent in camp in the depthsof the Grand Canyon was in some respects t
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