It
Flows In A General Southwesterly Direction, And Enters The Coconino Wash,
Which Discharges Into The Open Plain, Once The Bed Of The Great Inland
Eocene Sea.
Here it disappears.
An Underground Stream. In this plain are some breaks in the rocky bed,
which allow the water to flow down to join the underground current of the
Havasu (or Cataract) Creek, which runs on the northern slope of Bill
Williams Mountain. This underground stream (as explained in the chapter on
Havasu Canyon) emerges at the head of the village of the Havasupai Indians,
in a thousand springs, and then flows on, over several precipices, to the
lower levels, thus making the exquisite waterfalls that have rendered this
Canyon world-famous. It finally reaches the Colorado some fifteen miles
away, where its clear blue waters are soon lost in the muddy flood of the
"Red."
Water in the Canyon. After one has ridden in the hot summer sun over this
waterless region, and seen the waterwagons of the miners and sheep men, and
the great train of water-tanks being hauled for the guests at El Tovar, it
is a surprise and a wonder to find below, in the heart of this rocky-walled
Canyon, a mighty river dashing its headlong way to the west. Many a time,
after a week of riding horseback on the plateau above, until every particle
of moisture seemed to have evaporated from my body, have I gone down the
trail to the river and camped there, enjoying a swim several times a day,
and rowing up and down one of the quiet stretches, between the rapids,
where boating is not only possible but reasonably safe.
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