Such a remark implies a high temperature (during the period of growth) between the walls of the chasm, and also leads us to look for some soil--some scorched or dried up soil (sadly in need of irrigation)--between the jaws of the Canyon. Is there parched or desert soil on the banks of the Colorado? Here is the answer: "The region through which the chafing waters of the Colorado run is forbidding in the extreme, a vast =Sahara= of waste and inutility; a desert too dreary for either vegetable or animal life; a land that is =haunted with wind-storm=, on which ride the furies of desolation.... The earth is =parched to sterility=.... It is like the moon, a =parched= district, save for the single stream which, instead of supplying sustenance, is eating its vitals." (note 38.) Another traveler visited Fort Yuma, on the Colorado, and says: "The ride to the fort was through a flat and desolate looking country.... It was a dreary eight hours ride." Other remarks are made concerning "the barrenness of the surrounding region and" "the =intense heat= of its summer climate." (note 39.) In some spots, however, water produces magical effects. In the Mojave valley, for instance, "the annual overflow of the river enables the Mojaves, to raise with little labor, an abundant supply of provisions for the year.... During one season, a few years since, the Colorado did not overflow its banks; there were consequently no crops and great numbers of the Mojaves perished from starvation." (note 40.) Curiously enough, although rain fell furiously within the Canyon, it was observed by a traveler that "such rain-storms were invariably confined to the immediate vicinity of the Canyon, the territory lying two or three miles east or west continuing parched with hardly a cloud above it." And the explorer wonders how some ancient inhabitants, whose buildings are now in ruins, "managed to exist, situated as they were in a desolate country, where there was great scarcity of both vegetable and animal life." The ancient Chinese account connects a baby king, a supreme ruler, with the Great Canyon and now states that water was used within the gorge to irrigate the soil, which is represented as being dried up or scorched. Is the Canyon remarkable for its heat? Surely it ought to be cool down there? One visitor says: "That Canyon was the sultriest place I have ever struck, and my experience includes some of the hottest sections this side of the equator. The oppressive heat in the chasm was felt at a "point fifty times as deep as the great chasm at Niagara." (note 41.) "But despite the terrible heat, despite the discomfort of the situation, I was compelled to wonder and admire, For,"-- The =Ta-Hoh= should constitute a magnificent sight, but it is also said to contain some =scorched= or dried up soil. Is such to be seen?