| Show GRAND CANYON I 1 REPORT OF MOST SUBLIME I 1 SCENERY OF THE WORLD concluded from last issue beyond the eastern cloister five or six emlea distant rises a gigantic mass which we named temple it is tho grandest of all the butts and the most majestic in aspect though not tho most ornate its masa is aa great as the mountainous part of mount washington that summit looks down feet into the dark depths cf the inner abyss over a succession of ledges as s impracticable as the face of bunker hill monument all around it are side gorges sunk to a depth nearly as profound as that of the mim channel it stands in the midst of a great throng of cloister ake buttes with the same noble profile and strong lineaments linea ments as those immediately before us with a plexus of awful chasms between them in such a stupendous scene of wreck it seemed as if the fabled might find an abode not wholly uncongenial in all the vast spice beneath and around us there is very little upon which the mind could linger restfully it is completely filled with objects of gigantic size and amazing form and as the mind wanders over them it is hopelessly bewildered and lost it is useless to select special points of contemplation pla tion the instant the attention lays hold of them it Is drawn to something else and if it seeks to recur to them it cannot find them everything is superlative transcending the power of the intelligence to comprehend it there is ho central point or object around which the other elements arc grouped and to which they are tributary the grandest objects are merged in a congregation of others equally annd hundreds of these mighty structures miles in length and thousands of feet in rear their majestic heads out of the abyss displaying their richly molded plinths and friezes thrusting out their gables wing walls buttresses and pilasters pi lasters and recessed with alcoces and panels if any one of these stupendous creatures had been planted upon the plains of central eur opo it would hao influenced modern art as profoundly as fujiyama Fus iyama has influenced tho decorative art of japan yet here they are all lowed up in alio confusion of multitude it is not alone the magnitude of the individual objects that makes tins spectacle so portentous but it is still more the extravagant profusion which they arc arrayed along alie visible extent of the broad chasm the color effects arc rich and wonderful they are due to alie inherent colors of the rocks modified by the atmosphere like any other great series of strata in alie plateau province the carboniferous has its own range of characteristic colors which might serve to distinguish it even if we had no oilier criterion the summit strata are palo gray with a faint yellowish beneath them the cross bed ded sande tono appears showing a mottled surface of pale pinkish hue underneath tins member are nearly 1000 feet of alie lower aubrey sandstones displacing an intensely brilliant red winch is somewhat mask ed by alio talus showdown from alie grey cherty lime stones at alie summit beneath the lower aubrey the face of alie red wall limestone rom 2000 to feet high has a strong red color but a erv peculiar one most of the red strata of the west have tho brownish or vermilion tones but these are rather purplish red as if the pigment had been treated to a dash of blue it is not quite certain that this may not anso in part from the tion of the blue haze and probably it 13 rendered more conspicuous by this cause but on the whole the purplish cast seems to be this ig the dominant color mass of the canon for alio expanse of rock surface displaced is more thin hilf in the red wall croup it is less brilliant than alio fiery red of the aubrey sandstones but is still quite strong and rich beneath arc tho deep browns of the lower carboniferous the dark iron black of the revealed in the lower gorge makes but little impression upon the boundless expanse of bright colors above the total effect of the entire color mass is bright and glowing there is nothing gloomy or dark in the picture except the opening of thu inner gorge which is too small a feature to influence materially the prevailing tone although the colors are bright when contrasted with normal landscapes they are decidedly less intense than the filming hues of the or the dense cloying colors of the permian nor hao they the refinement of those revealed in tho eocene the intense luster which gleams from the rocks of the plateau country is by no means lost hero but is merely and kept under some restraint it ia toned down and softened without being deprived of its diameter enough of it is left to produce color effects not far below those that are yielded by the jura anas but though the inherent colors are less intenzo alian somo others yet under the quickening influence of tho atmosphere they produce effects to which all others are far inferior and hero language fails and description becomes impossible not only are their qualities exceedingly subtle but they he little counterpart in common experience if such are elsewhere they are presented so feebly and obscure ly that only the most and clobert observers of nature ever seize them and aliey so imperfectly that ideas of them are vague and but half real there are no concrete notions founded in experience upon which a conception of color effects and optical delusions can 10 constructed and made intelligible A perpetual glamour envelops the landscape things aro not what they seem and the perceptions cannot tell us whit they are it w not probable eliat these arc different in kind in the grand canon from what they are in other portions of alie pl ditc itc m country but alie difference in degree is imme nbc and being greatly magnified and intensified many become pil pablo which elude the closest observation in truth tho tone and temper of tho landscape arc constantly trying and the changes in its aspect aro very grait at issever is never the same even from day to day or even from hour to hour in the early morning ita mood and tio influences are usually calmer and more full of repose than at other times but aa the sun clia cannot recall our firby impressions every passing cloud every change in the position of the sun recasts the whole at sunset the pageant closes amid splendors that seem anoro than earthly the direction of alie full sunlight the roaming of the shadows the manner in which the bide lights are thrown in from the clouds determine these modulations and the sensitiveness of the picture to the slightest van actions in these conditions is very wonderful the shadows thrown by the bold abrupt forms are exceedingly dark it 13 almost impossible at the distance of a very few miles to distinguish even broad details in these shadows they are like remnants of midnight unconquered by the blaze of cooday tho want of half tones and gradations in the light and shade which has already been noted in the vermilion cliffs is apparent here and is far more conspicuous our thoughts in this connection may suggest to us a still more extreme case of a similar phenomenon presented by the half il laminated lumina ted moon when viewed through a largo telescope the portions which catch the sunlight shine with great luster but the shadows of mountains and cliffs are black and impenetrable but there is one feature in the canon which is certainly extraordinary it is the appearance pe arance of the atmosphere against the background of shadow it has a metallic luster which must be seen to bo appreciated the great wall across the chasm presents at noonday under a cloudless sky a weird and unearthly aspect the color is for the most part gone in place of it comes this metallic glare of the hazo the southern wall is never so poorly lighted as at noon since its face consists of a bencs of promontories projecting toward the north these projections catch tho sunlight on their eastern sides in the forenoon and upon their western sides in the afternoon but near meridian the fall upon a few points only and even upon these with very great obliquity thus at the hours of greatest general illumination the wall is most obscure and the abnormal effects arc then presented most forcibly they give anso to strange delusions the rocks then look nearly black or very dark grey and covered with feebly spots tho haze is strongly luminous and so dense as to obscure the details already enfeebled by shade as if a leaden or unal vapor intervened the shadows antagonize the perspective and everything seems awry the lines of stratification dimly been in one place and wholly effaced in another are strangely belied and the strata are given apparent attitudes are sometimes grotesque and sometimes choso who are familiar with western scenery have no doubt been impressed with the peculiar character of its haze or atmosphere in the artistic sense of the word and have noted its more prominent qualities when the air is free from common smoke it has a pale blue color which is quite unlike the neutral gray of the cast it is always apparently more dense when we look towards the sun than when we look away from it and this difference in alie two directions respectively jis a maximum near sunrise and sunset this properly is universal but its peculiarities in the plateau province become conspicuous alion alip strong colors of alie rocks are seen through it the very air is then visible we see it palpably as a tenuous fluid and the rocks beyond it do not appear to be colored blue as they do in other regions but reveal themselves clothed m colors of there own the grand canon 13 ever full of this haze it fills it to the brim its apparent density as elsewhere is varied according to the direction in it is viewed and the position of the sun but it seems also to bo denser and more concentrated than else ft here aliis is really a delusion arising from alie fact that the enormous magnitude of the chasm anc of its component masses dwarfs the distances we arc really looking through miles of atmosphere under the impression that they are only so many furlongs this apparent concentration of diaze hove vcr greatly intensifies all ther beautiful or optical effects which are dependent upon tion of the atmosphere whenever the brink of the chasm is reached the chances arc that the sun is high and these abnormal effects in full force the canon is asleep or it is under a spell of enchantment which gives its bewildering mazes an aspect still more ben ilden ng throughout the long summer forenoon the charm which binds it grows in potency at midday the clouds begin to gather first in fleecy flecks then in cumuli and throw their shadows into the gulf at once the scene changes the slumber of the chasm is disturbed the temples and cloisters seem to raise themselves halt awake to greet the passing shadow their wilted drooping flattened faces expand into relief the long promontories reach out from the distant wall as if to ratch a moments refreshment from the shade the colors begin to glow the hazo loses its opaque density and becomes more tenuous the shadows pass and alie chasm ws into its dull sleep again thus through the midday hours it lies in fitful slumber overcome by the blinding glare and withering heat ct responsive to every fluctuation of light and shadow like a delicate organism As the sun moves far into the west alio scene again changes slow ly and at urba but afterwards more rapidly in the hot summer afternoons alie sky is full of cloud play and the deep flushes with ready answers the banks of snowy clouds pour a flood of light sidewise into the shadows and light ap the gloom of the amphitheaters phi theaters and alcoves weakening the glow of the hazo and rendering visible the details of the wall faces at length as tho sun draws near the conyon alio great drama of the day begins throughout alie afternoon the prospect has been gradually growing clearer the haze has relaxed its steely glare and lias changed to a veil of transparent blue slowly the minada of details havo come out and the wall abc flecked with lines of minute tracery forming a diaper of light and shade stronger and sharper becomes alie relief of each projection the promontories come forth from the opposite wall the sinuous lines of stratification winch once seemed meaningless distorted and even clia otic now range themselves into a true perspective spec tive of graceful curves threading the scallop edges of the strata the colossal buttra expand in every dimension their long narrow wings which once were folded together and against each other open out disclosing between them vast alcoves illumined with rembrandt lights tinged the pale refined blue of the cvar haye A thousand forms hitherto unseen or obscure start up within the abyss and stand forth in strength and animation AU things seem to grow in beauty power and dimensions what was grand before haa become majestic the majestic be sublime aud ever expanding and developing the passe beyond tho reach of our faculties ind becomes transcendent the colors hive come back inherently rich and strong though not superlative under ordinary lights they now begin to display an adventitious brilliancy the western sky is all aflame the scattered banks of cloud and wavy have caught the waning splendor and shino with orange and camson broad slant beams of yellow light shot through tho glory drifts rifts fall on turret and tover on pinnacled biest and winding ledge suffusing them with a radiance lebs fulsome but akin to that which limes in the western clouds the summit band is brilliant sallow alie next below is pale roso but the grand expanse within is a deep luminous resplendent red the climax has now come tho blazo of sunlight poured over an illimitable surface of glow ing red is flung bock into the gulf and commingling com mingling dutli the blue aliaze turns it into a sea of of most imperial hue so rich so strong so puro that it makes the libart ache and the throat tighten vast the magnitudes how ever majestic the forms or sumptuous the decoration it is in these kingly colora that the highest glory of the grand canon is revealed at length the sun sinks and alie colors caaso to burn the abyss lapses back into repose but its glory mounts upward and diffuses itself in the sky above long streamers of rosy light rayed out from the west cross the firmament and converge again in the east ending in a pale rosy arch which risca like a low aurora just above the eastern horizon below it is alie dead gray shadow of tho world higher and higher climbs the arch followed by the darkening pall of gray and as it ascends it fades and disappears leaving no color except tho after glow of tho western clouds and tho lusterless red of the chiasm below within tho abi ss tile darkness gathers gradually the shades deepen and ascend hiding tho opposite wall and enveloping the great temples for a few moments the summits of these majestic piles seem to float suptei a sea of blackness then vanish in the darkness and wrapped in the impenetrable mantle of lh night they await the glory of th dawn |
