The boats, too, were somewhat unusual in design, having been carefully worked out by Galloway after much experience with the problem, and after building many boats.  He finally settled on the design furnished us by Mr. Stone.  The flat bottom, sloping up from the centre to either end, placed the boats on a pivot one might say, so that they could be turned very quickly, much more quickly than if they had had a keel.  There was a four foot skag or keel under the stern end of the boat, but this was only used when in quiet water; and as it was never replaced after being once removed we seldom refer to it.  Being flat-bottomed, they drew comparatively little water, a matter quite important on low water such as we found in the Green River.  While each boat carried a weight of seven hundred pounds in addition to its own five hundred pounds, they often passed over rocks less than ten inches below the surface, and did so without touching.  While the boats were quite large, the arched decks made them look even larger.  A considerable amount of material could be stored under these decks.  The only part of the boat that was entirely open or unprotected from the waves was the cockpit, or mid-section occupied by the oarsman.  This was only large enough for one man.  A second man had to sit on the deck behind the oarsman, with his feet hanging into the cockpit.  Jimmy occupied this place of honour as we drifted through the placid water; first on one boat, then on the other, entertaining us meanwhile with his songs.

We encountered two splashy little rapids this day, but with no rocks, or any dangerous feature whatever.  Any method, or none at all, was safe enough in these rapids.

The colouring of the rocks changed as we proceeded, and at the lower end of the short canyon we saw the flaming patch of colour that had suggested its name to Major Powell, forty-two years before.  Intensified on that occasion by the reflected light of a gorgeous sunset, it must have been a most brilliant spectacle.

Two beavers slid into the water when we were close beside them, then rose to the surface to stare curiously when we had passed.  We left them undisturbed.  Some geese decoyed us into an attempt to ambush them, but they kept always just out of reach of our guns.  Wise fellows, those geese!

A geological fault accompanied by the breaking down of the walls marks the division between Flaming Gorge and Horseshoe Canyon, which immediately follows.  We nooned here, opposite a deserted cabin.  A trail dropped by easy stages over the slope on the east side; and fresh tracks showed that sheep had recently been driven down to the water’s edge.