of the Canyon of Desolation’s 97 miles.  Desolation is a fine chasm, whose walls are 2400 feet.  The view on page 206 gives an excellent idea of their average character.  The mouth of the Uinta River, not far above its head, is 4670 feet above the sea, while Gunnison Valley is 4083, showing a descent for the river, in Desolation and Gray, together of 587 feet.  Desolation is full of rapids, some of them bad.  Wonsits Valley, which succeeds Desolation, is the longest of the few valleys, being about 87 miles, with a width of 6 or 8 miles.  There is a considerable amount of arable land, and along the river bank large groves of cottonwood trees.  The river course is winding, the current sluggish, the width being 600 to 800 feet.  At the head of this valley is Split-Mountain Canyon, 8 miles long, with ragged, craggy walls 2700 feet high.  It contains a number of medium rapids.  Island Park separates it from Whirlpool Canyon.  It is a charming little valley, full of islands, a mere expansion of the walls, 9 miles long,—­9 miles of rainbow, for the surrounding rocks and marls are of every hue.  Whirlpool, 2400 feet deep, is about 14 miles in length and contains a number of rapids, but the whirlpools depend on the stage of water.  Then comes the beautiful little Echo Park, really only the head of Whirlpool.  Its name is derived from a wonderful echo of ten words returned from the smooth wall seen in the cut on page 203.  It is only a mile long with walls of 600 feet.  At its head enter the Yampa River and Canyon, which mark the foot of Lodore, the most striking gorge, next to the Grand Canyon, on the whole river.  Lodore is only 20 miles long, but it is 20 miles of concentrated water-power energy and grandeur, the fall being about 400 feet, the walls 2700.  Never for a moment does it relax its assault, and the voyager on its restless, relentless tide, especially at high water, is kept on the alert.  The waters indeed come rushing down with fearful impetuosity, recalling to Powell the poem of Southey, on the Lodore he knew, hence the name.  The beginning of the gorge is at the foot of Brown’s Park through what is called the Gate of Lodore, an abrupt gash in the Uinta Mountains 2000 feet deep.  In viewing this entrance the ordinary spectator is at a loss to comprehend how the stream could have begun its attack upon this precipitous ridge.  The theory that the river was there before the upheaval formed the mountain does not entirely satisfy, for it would seem in that case that the canyon walls would long ago have become much more broken down than they are.  But the walls have a strikingly fresh look, as if formed recently, compared with the time of the original upheaval.  It seems possible that there may have been in this region some great lake which lifted the waters up to the top of the ridge to begin their work of corrasion.  Such lakes did exist; but lack of space forbids the further pursuit of this discussion here.

* The character of the Grand River is similar to that of the Green, but the canyons above the mouth of the Dolores are not so long nor so deep.  The river also carries less water.