It had been some weeks since anyone had heard from the party, and public anxiety was mounting. Now a man claiming to be the sole survivor was speaking to the press. The last time he had seen them, he said, Powell had been standing on his boat, waving his hat in cheery farewell... just before the whole expedition plunged directly into some deadly rapids. Hours later, the narrator had found a lone carpet-bag floating down the river. It contained Powell's notebooks.
