Hurrying, stumbling, slipping, cursing as the way became rougher and the grade steeper, we forced our blistered, bruised feet onward. The walls of the great cleft drew nearer and nearer together, until they seemed to overhang our heads, and we were in semi-darkness in the depths. Presently, from ahead, came a new sound, a low reverberating roar, and a mile or so farther on we came in sight of the head of the cañon, and our hearts sank in dismay. Once more we were faced with a mighty wall of rock down which the stream poured in a series of cataracts. There seemed no escape, no hope. We were doomed. But as I stared at the flashing, roaring falls, a faint hope rose in me. On either side of the descending water, the cliff had been worn and cut into rough, irregular masses. It might be possible to ascend the precipice in that spot. I tried to explain it to the chief, to indicate my intention, and presently he grasped my meaning and nodded. But to climb that perpendicular wall even with the rough crags and footholds would be utterly impossible with the heavy packs upon our shoulders. We must abandon our loads or resign ourselves to remaining in the cañon to die like trapped rats. Ripping open the packages, I filled my pockets with the most essential things, made up two small packs, and strapping these to the shoulders of my comrade and myself we commenced the difficult and perilous ascent. It was terrible work. The rock was rotten, and at any instant might give way and precipitate us to the rocks below. Inch by inch we struggled upward, often so close to the falls that we were drenched, at other times straddling and crawling far to one side, clinging with toes and fingers, our hands torn and bleeding. Twenty, forty, fifty feet we ascended, when we came to a narrow ledge or shelf running diagonally across the face of the cliff. To the right the ledge dwindled to nothing; above us there was not a crevice, not a finger hold in sight; to the left, the shelf vanished beneath the column of water falling from far above. Our only chance was to pass _beneath_ the fall and trust to finding a passable way upward on the farther side.