Loper Stays at Hite. Loper had acted as photographer of the expedition, and had the camera and the plates in his boat, when it was filled with water. Examination showed that the plates were ruined, and the camera shutter badly rusted. It was decided that Loper should remain behind at Hite, and await the arrival of a new shutter for which he had written. It was agreed that he need not be thus delayed more than two weeks, and should be able to rejoin his companions at Lee's Ferry, a Mormon settlement of three families, one hundred and forty miles below Hite, within twenty-one days.

Russell and Monett Start. Accordingly, Russell and Monett pushed ahead, and put in many days prospecting along the shores of Glen Canyon. After forty-three days of waiting at Lee's Ferry, Russell and Monett decided that if they were to complete the trip before their now rapidly decreasing supply of provisions was exhausted, they must start on without Loper, for whom they had waited more than twice the time agreed on. Friday, December 13, had no terrors for the intrepid pair, and on the morning of that day they started on down the river, with the sixty-six miles of Marble Canyon in front of them, an introduction to the two hundred and seventeen miles of the Grand Canyon below.