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Show 92 FfeOM GBEAT SAM LAKE CTZY TO PORT HALL. of these strata and also of the crystalline sandstone was about E. S. E., at an angle of from 60? to 70°. ' < " From the junction, of the two forks, the valley changes its direc- . iion to the N. N. YT., which it maintains until it merges in that of the Port Neuf, a distance of eighteen miles; it becomes broader, the bottoms, are high, hard, very level, and entirely covered with arte-misia. Coarse red metamorphic sandstone was found on the side pf < the valley at this point, with a considerable dip to the north- east. Clayey shales also occurred; and, from the appearance of the soil, a great deal of argillaceous rock, must exist in the vicinity., Five miles below the f6rks, a remadcable isolated hill stands on the western- side of the valley, called by the traders the " Windmill Bock/' Here a dike of trap wafe met with, running north- east and south- west, forming the axis of a chain extending across the valley, and of yhich the isolated hill seemed. to form a part. The dike constituted the summit of a high hill on the east side of the river: on the west side, the same rock was fQund, but not so high. Meta-morphic sandstone ( red) was found overlaying the trap, and what ' appeared to be porous basalt was found in considerable abundance: no section of the stratification of the sandstone could be obtained. Beyond this point, the valley of . the Pannack gradually sinks down into that of the Snake River. The hills that enclose it are not. high, aud seem formed almost wholly of white clay; at least, this was the only soil exposed, even in some very deep ravines. The same character of. soil is found On the- whole country thi* side of Snake River. % * Twelve miles from the forks, we leave the Pannack, which there makes a curve to- the westward, around the point of a ridge which is quite low, and the ascent gentle and regular. Upon reaching the level of the table- land, nothing was to be seen, as far as the eye could reach, but the eternal artemisip, which had taken complete possession of this barren, dreary waste, and extended qtrite to the Port Neuf. Upon reaching this stream, we struck upon the emigrant . road by Fort Hall to California;- antj descending a bluff, or rather a cliffy two hundred feet in height, and. composed entirely of argillaoeous soil, we crossed the Port % Neuf and entered the valley of th* Columbia. From the top of the bluff, an extensive level plain, clothed with grass, is spread out before us, lik? a beautiful picture; while the fringe of hefcvy timber, stretching far away to the north and west, indicates the position of Lewis's Fork of the great river of the West. Five miles id the |