imagined belonged to the salt water rather than the inland streams,
making a little excursion, perhaps, away from their accustomed haunts.
One type we saw on two occasions, much like a gull, but smaller, pure
white as far as we could tell, soaring in graceful flight above the
river.

Camp No. 26 was close to the beginning of a new canyon. The country
had been changing in appearance from rather flat plains to small bare
hills, gradually increasing in height with smooth, rounded sides, and
going up to a point, usually of a dirty clay colour, with little
vegetation of any kind on them. The river for miles past had swept in
long graceful curves, the hills being close to the river on the
outside of the curve, leaving a big flat on the inside. This flat
gradually sloped back to hills of an equal height to those opposite.
Then the curve would reverse, and the same conditions would be met
with again, but on opposite sides from the previous bend. After
passing a creek the evening before, the hills became higher, and from
our camp we could see the first place where they came close on both
sides to the river. We felt now that our beautiful tree-covered
canyons were behind us and from now on we would be hemmed in by the
great eroded canyons of the Southwest. We were sorry to leave those
others behind, and could easily understand why Major Powell had named
this Desolation Canyon.

As the canyon deepened the cliffs were cut into fantastic shapes, as
is usual in rocks unprotected by vegetation. There was a hard rock
near the top in places which overhung a softer formation. This would
erode, giving a cornice-like effect to the cliffs. Others were
surmounted by square towers and these were capped by a border of
little squares, making the whole look much like a castle on the Rhine.