A flat boat was chained at
each end to the cable, but so it could slide along when the ferryman
gripped the cable with a large hook, and gave long, hard pulls. Faye
says that the very swift current of the stream assisted him much.
The river runs through a narrow, deep canon where the ferry is, and at
the time we crossed everything was in dark shadow, and the water
looked black, and fathoms deep, with its wonderful reflections. The
grandeur of these mountains is simply beyond imagination; they have
to be seen to be appreciated, and yet when seen, one can scarcely
comprehend their immensity. We are five hundred miles from a railroad,
with endless chains of these mountains between. All supplies of every
description are brought up that distance by long ox trains - dozens of
wagons in a train, and eight or ten pairs of oxen fastened to the one
long chain that pulls three or four heavily loaded wagons. We passed
many of these trains on the march up, and my heart ached for the poor
patient beasts.
We are to have one side of a large double house, which will give us as
many rooms as we will need in this isolated place. Hal is in the house
now, with Cagey, and Billie is there also, and has the exclusive run
of one room.
