.

UP THE RIO COLORADO.
And now began our real journey up the Colorado River, that river unknown to me except in my early geography lessons--that mighty and untamed river, which is to-day unknown except to the explorer, or the few people who have navigated its turbulent waters.

Back in memory was the picture of it on the map; here was the reality, then, and here we were, on the steamer "Gila," Captain Mellon, with the barge full of soldiers towing on after us, starting for Fort Mojave, some two hundred miles above.
The vague and shadowy foreboding that had fluttered through my mind before I left Fort Russell had now also become a reality and crowded out every other thought.

The river, the scenery, seemed, after all, but an illusion, and interested me but in a dreamy sort of way.
We had staterooms, but could not remain in them long at a time, on account of the intense heat.

I had never felt such heat, and no one else ever had or has since.