"We have an unknown distance yet to run, an unknown river to explore. What falls there are, we know not; what rocks beset the channel, we know not; what walls rise over the river, we know not. Ah, well! we may conjecture many things. The men talk as cheerfully as ever; jests are bandied about freely this morning; but to me the cheer is somber and the jests are ghastly."
John Wesley Powell

January 1, 1970

Quote Details

Sources

Ch. 11 (August 13, 1869)

https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Wesley_Powell