And we passed forward with much ado, turning our stems now this way, now that way, to seek and find the channel.

And it pleased God that after this sort we came to the very bottom of the bay, where we found a very mighty river, which ran with so great fury of a stream, that we could hardly sail against it." Here, then, began the acquaintance between the European and the river now known as the Colorado of the West.

The experience of Alarcon was immediately typical of much that was to follow in the centuries of endeavour to arrive at an intimate knowledge of this savage torrent..