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Show 102 RECONNAISSANCE ABOUND GREAT SALT LAKE. proved perfectly serene, and a young moon shed its tremulous light upon a sefe of- profound, unbroken silence. I was surprised to find, although § & near a body of the saltest water, none of that feeling of iirvjgorating freshness which is always experienced when in the vicioity'of the ocean. The bleak and naked shores, without a sin- . gletree to relieve the eye, presented a scene so different from what X^ aad pictured in my imagination of the beauties of this far- famed spot, that my disappointment was extreme. Tuesday, October 23.- Ther. at daylight, 37°. Morning clear and calm; the lake and mountains to the eastward yet wrapped in mist. The west side of the extremity of the promontory is composed of porphyry, interspersed with seams of white quartz, which veined it in the most beautiful manner. The quartz veins in some instances were several feet thick. These rocks, evidently in place, rose boldly, forming escarpments looking to the south- west, with a dip, apparently to the north, of about 50°. Decomposed limestone, containing organic remains, and also trap rock, were here observed. The ground near our encampment was covered with a species of Astragalus, the seed- pods of which were covered by a substance resembling cotton, and presented the appearance of oval white balls, about the size of a robin's egg. I afterward found this plant upon most of the islands of the lake. Bounding the point of the promontory, the shore of the lake trends off to the northward, forming several picturesque little bays with bold rocky headlands. After travelling about nine miles, we came to several springs of good and most welcome water, and we stopped to refresh our animals and to noon. The finding of this water was entirely unexpected, as, from the representations of an old Shoshonee Indian, made to us before leaving Bear Biver, I did not look for any for two days, and had in consequence dismpunted one of the men to enable us to carry the more vessels, all of which had been filled before leaving our camp in the morning. I went down to the shore of the lake to taste of the water: it was as salt as very strong brine, and clear and transparent as diamond. A large flock of gulls was swimming about near the shore. After feasting our animals upon the grass that grew among the tall rushes and canes around the spring, we continued along the shore of the lake for about nine miles farther, and succeeded in discovering three springs within that distance, at the last of which we halted for the night. After doubling the southern end of the promontory, the broad flats, which had characterized the shore at its eastern base, en- |