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Show ... ' [ 243] 56 y~llcf. '~~s s_omctimes the h~end th of the stream, aud sometimrs opened ~no Itt c giCen rncndows, ~t.·ty yard wide, with o en arove. [ . fhe sr renm wns bordered thron o-hout with ·t~p·'n l)ecpcll t:r I ~llo .tspcnJ. t ll · · ~ ~ "" ' a H WI ow · nne a J!lncs grew 011 the ~Ides and snmruit~ of the cnw~ 'on both sidr~ 'tt ~~~·:;;;~:dr~~~;s 1 ~~se precipitously to 1 he height of ,!,:re hundred' und' fi ~: ments of fall,el~l;,;;~;~_n\I.ng I_lll .. dJaggecl and broken pointed peaks; and frng-- . ,, . '-. .1y PIe up at the foot of the pr('cipi · , ~ G ,·. ~~~~~ ~~~~~'ynonl~1 at:~lnte ~·r1anite, were n.mo11g the varieties In~~i~cd. ~l~(/~;~ . ' u I ,tces OJ. )CilVCf 011 the St ('' . ~ , f whtch were lyjno- trees which tl r ~nu, lellllltLnts o dam~, ncar dinmetcr. 'l'he llill ' . ~I r 1ey had cu~ down, oue and two fc'et in mil es, aud we turned l~n:n~. ) _shut up the nvcr_ at the_ ~IHl of nhont fivo to be the o-ene rn.l level opfctll1lc1Vlllc that led ton lngh prrunc, which se mcd there i~ a :-.r crru'h r . d, c codu ntry· . lienee ' tc tl , · f J · J JC :->llt1Hlllt o t le ndcre at tile he·td" oof 'tl1c"u~ yery gnd\ nal nsc. Blocks of granite were piled ~1p' l "' wvmcs an small bar"' ]· 11 f " · . quartz protmclcd at freCJur;1t . t 1 c dlO 8 . ~ m1c~1 ·late und nnlky in occasional ::;pols with smaN\~~~~<~_on t\lC ~rainc, wlllch was whitened anJ left the bed covered wit! ·I .. t \e~ \\ 1etc _the water hnd cvaporarcd, was very co ld u Iloi·tl l ~ Sdlllldll_lg: lllCrustatlon of salt. 'l'hc evening . , l w s t w 1 n n v 1 w1· ·1 fi . . · · r · nightfall we descelltlcd to a litrle st·. ::-. l no ~ ·lin Ill onr Hlces, und at two miles from the weet \Vat er ;~l~ll~ f~1dwh.,Ich we encamped, nhout camp of Snnke and Crow lndiafJ <;:. .1 ere llll rcceutly b?en n \'Cry lnrge ,d I . { ""' emu some al o-p ])Ole I ' Ill l t . ~r d e t le menns of p1tcllill'r 'l tent a d l . r-, , ) g n JOU ttuOt - tire_· to-night were mad~ \rin c/ n;~ , ma nno- ~t!Jer plnces of shelter. Our winch covered the slope 1 It 1 P ) of _the diy ~Jrancllc · of the i.ll'lcmi~ia makes a hot fi 1·e 'file 1 • - 11 }>urns quickly, With n clear oily flame and slate, \n.t h vPin , ·o f quartz1.1 s 1 c re nrc c omposca, Otr 1l ai.d , compact 'm i·c a August 7.-"Vc left our enc'lm t · l 1 .. from the bed of tile creek the L . pn:cn wll 1 t le nsmg sun. As we rose b· efore us, tlw whire JJC:~t l\:. s ·"·' lt.sttet1n01n~ oI-m_c of! the mountains str tchcd grnndllr Ill t 1e s 'l,l 1 ,_. J Jn .thc dark weather of tile la::-st r, d'"' . .U11 • 1ey 1ad been hidden I - 1 · . - 1cw ap; and It 11 ... (1 l)., · w ll c ll nuned in tile Jl·. 'V . ' •• cen sno1nnrr on them • 1 ttJns. e crossed ··d · d · ., ' Sweet \Vater : he re a be·Lutif l . .. a 11 g?, lliL agam st1uck tho timbered witlt l>eCcll and tCOit~:l Ws;~ft sream, With n more ~pen Valley, lllc1tly ·rt.nll fork:-; which mnkc J·r I . 1 t nolw began to Jo e Itself in the ~· t rc,r.t m unu. l near noon wile l , sI rl. On. e ' anc we. ccJJltlt d I . ' n \\ e cIt lll e up t lC matn lt n few m II es t l on a _s rnnll crenk lllllono· tlte hill fr rl . I o ma_ \:e our noon halt orenmg·. \Vithin W '"",.. be·tLlti·r 'I om" llC l the streant l~sues b)· a small f '·' 0 '7 n c Ill ar·tsSy SpOt d · o la_rge beech trees, amon<r whicl o£ ~ ~' co~erc Witll n.n open grove prevwnslv seen. ~ 1 ound scvcu.tl plants that I had not 'rho. aftemoon was cloud witJ . came line nt sun ·ct when y, . . 1 squalls of ram ; bn t the weather be-a few mile, of the SouTII l~c ag,\r,'l\hcucamped on the Swret \Yarer within t o-d.· lY, consl· ·ts pn.u cipally oAf st ·l c co 11 n rr y. ' 0 ver w 1n ·c } ' I we hn\e passed all the rid,res mnkinrr tl I 1cdcompact lll iCU slate, which crops ou t on ments whl~c lt ' bor• der t-t~ ile IC upI an . s .v ery roc! <y . d I . . , c ree {\n s atv. In th e e e·tt·p \.S Jt 1 sect I ' . - . , ~ - gramte, at an iuclination of 4·.. . o'. tl l d1 n Lcr_uatn~g- \\'Jth n Jio-ht colored or three feet to six Or eio-ht h ·> u' dle )e S V~l')'lllg' 111 thickne~; from t\VO has_ the nppenrancc of i~recruY·tl ~e . Atfn dl. tancc, tile granire frequentlY' vancty o[ asters may llO\"'I::> b ar unb1ps o clay, lwrdencd by cxposu re A 'nn d tl le arteJni·s l·a coutinue·• s ien nf umII eIr ed (n. t nong t 1lC c 1l UfliC· tcn· -tl·.c.. pla· utA mos~es begin to dispute tlte, l .,,u _g ory ; but rarti have !)('come rnrc nnd ll S Wllh them · rrl le, cvcnm· g was damp' and 57 , [ 243] wp1em=nnt, the thermometer at 10 ?'deck bLing_ nt 36°, and th? gra ·s wet wirh a heavy dow. Our u. trOllOllliC:tl ohsrrvat10ns placed thts encamp-ment in lon rritude 109° 51 ' 2~}'' , and latitude t12° 27' 15''. Early i11 tile morning we re n1ned our journey, the wcnthcr !:~till clo~1dy, with occasional ruin. Our (r('Jleral cou r c was west, as I !Hid determmcd to cross tile uividiwr ridge by a bridle path among the broken country 1norc immediately at tile foot of the lll OUnt~'ins, and return by ~he wagon road two nncJ ahalfmile to the south of the poiut where the trail crosses. About si\. mil s f1om ou r eucn1nprncnt hrougl1t us to the summit. 'rhe. ascent had been so gradual that, with all the intinwlc kno\vlcdgc pos essed by Garson, who had mndc this ·our1try l1i ~ !tome for SO \ cnteen ycnrs, we were obli rrrd to watch very closely to find the place ut which we had Jeached th6 c ult~linatinrr ()Oint. This was uclwecn too low !Iii!~, ri!:>i llg on either hand b l . fifty or sixty feet. ' V"h('ll I look('cl hack at th em from the fool oft 1e unme-diatc .lope on the wc~tern plain, tiJ it ~ummitR appeared to b' about one hundred and twenly ,fcet abo\'e. Frorn the iuq)l'rs·ion on my mind at this time, nnd ~ubsequcntlv on our return, I &hould COJ11pnre the elenttion which wa Rurmou ntcd jnli;Jediately at the pa~:~s, to Lbe ascent of the Capit ol hill from the a\'enue, at "Vashington. It is clifiicult for me to fix positively the breadth of this paf:~. From the broken grou nd where it commences, at the foot of the Wind lliYcr chain , the view to the sout heaHl is over u champaign country, broken, at the di lance of n i11ctecn miles, by the Table Rock; which, with the other isolated hills in its vicinity, scen1s to ~:~tnnd on a comparative plain. Thi I judgeJ to be its termimtti"on, the ridge recovering its rugged ~ harac l cr wirh the Table Rock. It will be seen tlHtt it in no manner rebernbles the places to which tlte term is comn1onl.v nppli cd-nothing of the gorgc.lik character and winding nscenls of the Allegany pns~es in AmeJicn, nothing of the Great St. Bernard and Sirnplon passes in Europe. Approaching it from the month of the Sweet Water, a ·andy plain, one hundred and twenty miles long, conducts, by a grnd unl and rcg11lnr asct>nt, to the summit, about r::ever1 t bousand feet abo\'e the sea; and the trav('llcr, without being reminded of any change by toilsome ascents, sudden ly finds himself on the waters which Jlo·w to the Pacific oce[.Lt>l. By the route we hau travelled, the distance fro111 Fort. Larat11ie is three hundred and twcuty miles, or nine hun· dreJ and fifty from the mouth of l11e KntlZ<ts. Continu ing our march, we reached in eight miles from the pl\ss, the Littl ~andy, one of the trii:.Juta!·i e~ of the Uol01ado, or Green river of the Gulf of Ualifornia. The weather l1ad grown fiuc during the morning, and weremained here the rest of tbe day, to dry our baggag-e and take sotue astronomical observat iou ·. Tile st ream was about forty feel wide, and two or three deep, with clear water and a full swift current, over a sandy bed. It was 1in1bercd wilh n. growth of low, bu·hy and den. e willows, nmong which were lillie verdant spots, which gave our animals ti ne grns~, and wh rc I found a number of intrrrstin.rr plants. Among the neighboring hills I noticed fragments of granite containing magnetic iron. Longitude of the camp was 110° 07' 4611 , Ia I itude 42° ~7' 34". Autrust ~L-"Vc made our noon hal t to day on Big Sandy, another tributary of Green river. rrhc face of the country traver cd was of a brown sand of granite materials, the detritus of tlle neighboring mountains. Straht of the mi lky quartz cropped out: and blocks of grauitf~ were scattered abont containiug magnetic iron. On t;audy creek tile formation was of paJticolored sunc.l, exhibited in escarpments fifty to eighty feet high. In the |
