Before reaching the chasm, we had crossed numerous large trails leading
a little more to the westward than we had been travelling, and we were
at once convinced that they all centred in a common crossing close at
hand. In this conjecture we were not disappointed; half-an-hour's
trotting brought us into a large road, the thoroughfare for years of
millions of Indians, buffaloes, and mustangs. Perilous as the descent
appeared, we well knew there was no other near. My horse was again
started ahead while the two others followed. Once in the narrow path,
which led circuitously down the deep descent, there was no possibility
of turning back, and our maddened animals finally reached the bottom
in safety.
Several large stones were loosened from under our feet during this
frightful descent. They would leap, dash, and thunder down the
precipitous sides, and strike against the bottom far below us with a
terrific crash.
We found a running stream at the bottom, and on the opposite side of it
a romantic dell covered with short grass and a few scattered cotton-wood
trees. A large body of Indians had encamped on this very spot but a few
days previous; the _blazed_ limbs of the trees and other "signs" showing
that they had made it a resting-place. We, too, halted a couple of hours
to give our horses an opportunity to graze and rest themselves, The
trail which led up to the prairie on the opposite side was discovered a
short distance above us to the south.
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