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Show 332 REPORT OP THE CHIEF OF ENGINEERS. the sunlight, a most pleasant (tight, as it gave assurance of abundance of water fora time at least. Cotton wood Island, with its majestic cottonwood trees and rich vegetation,afforded a pleasant relict' to the cyo, after having wen nothing but black, barren rocks and parched, sandy valleys Mince leaving old Camp Cady. Tin- island, which is f> miles long and km than half a mile wide, is occupied by a niunlxT of 1'aJi-l'te Indians. Others of the Haine trilw have rancherias along the west bank of the river. They raise a few vegetables, a little corn, melons, and wheat; but their principal food is the nHwqnite bean. They had no supplies to Hell to our party. as the products of their Miiall gardens are consumed as fast as they ripen. They make no effort* to catch fish, but occasionally shoot a mountain-sheep, and hunt regularly for a species of large lizard and the field-rat. They visited our camp daily, begging for bread and tobacco, but otherwise did not molest us, nor did they show any propensity for stealing. At this place a party was sent to Camp Mohave for supplies to replenish our nearly exhausted stores, and after a few days' rest we proceeded up the river to Stones Ferry. The trail followed the river closely as far as El Dorado Mill. From thence a wide detour hud to be made to get around the Jtlack Canon, and we reached the river again at tlm mouth of Las Vegas Wash. From this point another detour was made to avoid the Itowldcr Canon. The route hence was up the Call villa Wash, over the divide, and down a graduul descent to the Virgen Kiver, which was reached aln;ut 15 miles from its mouth ; thence down the Virgen to rhe Colorado at Stone's Ferry, which point was reached on the evening of August 4. This part of the route was almost entirely destitute of vegetation; even the camps on the river afforded no grass for the animals. At Hitter Spring, Camp JW, some salt grass was found, but it was |»oor feed for the animals, and harmed more than it beuelited them. The water at Bitter Springs in decidedly alkaline and unpleasant to the taste. Signs of water were observed near the summit of the ('all ville Wash, and some green grass was found iu the immediate vicinity. Tin-waterof the Virgfli was unlit for use by men or animals. It was intensely saline, its color brick-red, and surface covered with floating slime of the same color. The trail from Cot ton wood Island to Kldorado Mill is very rough, in some places precipitous and dangerous, entirely impracticable for wagons. Thence to mouth of Las Vegas Wash the trail is not so diflicult, and nearly all of it could In- traveled by lightly-loaded wagons. Thence to Stone's Ferry the route is practicable for wagons. Call-ville is entirely deserted ; the wood-work has lieen removed from all of the houses, and nothing but crumbling walls indicate the site of the city at the " head of navigation.'' In the vicinity of Stone's Fi*ny and aloug'the Virgen are found extensive deposits of rock-salt, and near the ferry there is a natural curiosity called th« *' salt well." This is a hole iu the mesa, nearly circular, with steep walls, partly filled with a strong solution of salt. The greatest depth of water was found by sounding to Ik- Do* feet, the diameter of the water-surface 11* feet, high-water mark above present surface 4 feet, and surface of water below crest of well 43 feet. The surface of the water in the well was found to In- :\.'J feet above the surface of the river at the nearest point. A considerable quantity of rock-salt is obtained iu this vicinity, which in used in the reduction of ores both in Nevada and Arizona. At Stone's Ferry we remained until the 14th of August. The time was occupied in taking soundings and current-observations. A description of the method used and results obtained will follow. From Stone's Ferry, after crossing the river, we followed the road through a wash which heads in the almost insensible divide leading to the Sacramento Valley; then along this valley to Chloride; from this |H>int, through In ion Tass, to Hardy v*i lie and Camp Mohave. The first march, from the river to Mountain Spring, is a long stretch of over 40 miles without water. The ascent from the river is gradual and at the rate of about H) feet to the mile. The first IU miles is through a narrow wash, destitute of vegetation, then the. wash gradually widens into a valley of magnificent pro|»ortions, ltotindcd on the east by the Sacramento Mountains, and on the west by the river range. This valley was covered with different kinds of grasses-in the northern part principally coarse gallete, but further south more nutritious grass was found in quantities sufficient to feed thousands of cattle, which is not available Itecaiise water cannot be procured. Attempts have Im-cii made todig wells in this valley, but no water has Ix-en obtained except in the vicinity of the springs near the summit of the valley. The spring at Xobman's Kanch furnishes water for about two hundred head of cattle. At Chloride we obtained good water from a well about 4" feet deep. The town wa.» almost deserted, but half a dozen men living there. The mines were not worked, and the smelt ing-furnace stood idle at the time of our visit. There isagiNid wa^on-ioad all the way from Stone's Ferry to Camp Mohave, a toll-road having been limit through Union l'ass. The weather was pleasant and temperature moderate in the Sacramento Valley, but as soon as we crossed the summit of the river range we began to ex|»erience the dry atmosphere and excessive heat that had been felt previously iu the valley of the Colo- |