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Show PB0M0NT0BY RANGE- VIEW OF THl^ LAXE. 101 promontory, the limestones disappeared, and the surface rock was formed of conglomerate composed chiefly of the older icidimentary rocks, and some boulders of serpentine and porphyry.-;", Fpon examining several isolated masses of this, it was found that eactuslone ( principally rounded pebbles of quartz) was surrounded by a " crystalline layer of satin spar, as if it had formed a nucleus around w) jioh. the lime had crystallized. In about ten miles we reached the southern extremity of this high rocky range, where it juts into the lake* ; X Within this distance we passed five or six springs, some of them * y with very good water, bursting from the foot of the mountain. Innumerable salt and sulphur springs break out of the bank all along, but are soon lost in the broad sand and mud flat which lies between the banks and the water. This flat is about two miles broad, entirely without vegetation, and has, I think, been slightly covered by the lake in the spring and summer. Both yesterday and to- day, considerable quantities of small drift- wood was seen lying on the sands- a fact which favours this opinion. The mirage along the lake shore, and above the moist, oozy plains, has been, for the last two days, very great, giving rise to optical illusions the most grotesque and fantastic, and rendering all estimate of the distance or form of objects vague and uncertain. Two miles farther we reached a small rill of brackish, indifferent water, upon which we bivouacked, fearing to go on, lest we should be left without any. The evening was mild and bland, and the scene around us one of exciting interest. At our feet and on each side lay the waters of the Great . Salt Lake, which we had so long and so ardently desired to see. They were clear and calm, and stretched far to the south and west. Directly before us, and distant only a few miles, an island rose from eight hundred to one thousand feet in height, while in the distance other and larger ones shot up from the bosom. of the waters, their summits appearing to reach the clouds. On the west appeared several dark spots, resembling other islands, but the dreamy haze hovering over this still and solitary sea threw its dim, uncertain veil over the more distant features of the landscape, preventing the eye from discerning any one object with distinctness, while it half revealed the whole, leaving ample scope for the imagination of the beholder. The stillness of the grave seemed to pervade both air and water; and, excepting here and there a solitary wild- duck floating motionless on the * bosom of the lake, not a living thing was to be seen. The night |