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Show [ 174 J 210 . b .1 t 1 m"de a IYOOd halting place to recruit our animals; and .., ttll a unuda · n 1' an(n cam"p ed~ h!e') re for th rem am• de r o f t l 1e d ay. I ro( I e ah c ad we n.ccor wg Y e ~ . . . f l . . evcral milcR to ascertain If there was an.y 1 appeal an~c o 1 a ~ad er co 1 ur sc en- . 1 1 1 . b t found none the htl s prcscrnng t 1c1r ry c 1aracter, tenng t 1C a w ' u ' . l h 1 't d b and the shore of the lake sprinkled wtt 1 ~ c same w Hfle p 1 ow fcidJ sLu stanc 1 c, an( I coverN1 WI' th t11e sa~ me shrubs. fhcre were oc {8 o uc {8 on t 1e J h 1 1 } d 1a 1te , an< 1 I.t. cqu cr 1 t tracks of. In• dians alon.g... the 8 ore, w 1crc t 1c grass la been recently burnt by thcu· fires. . . . ·we ascended the bordering mountam, m 1 ?lrl·der to obtai~ a 1 more pc1d·f~ct view of the lake in sketching its figure ; ll s sweep entire y aroun tis basin, from which the waters ha~c r~o ontl:t.. . . D eccm lJ cr G) C) rl'o ll'\)' \\'e left tlus forbtddme: lake. Impassable rocky FJ..-.- - , v • iT rid res barred our prog;t ess to the ca t ward? and 1 accord ~ngly bore.~ to-wagrels tl 1c sou tll , ovn~ t· '· m extensive sarrc 1)la111. At a constderablc d1~tancc J 0 · d h a I1 ea d an d a l 1't tl c~ 011 ou1· left , was a ranb(l'c of sn.o wy mountnms, ·a 1n ·t c count•~Y declineJ gradually towards the foo~ of a h1gh and ne~r~r .rH getm· I .. tcly l>el'orc us which })resented the feature of black pr cclplces, now me( •a ' ' · f 1 · d ' ' becomin~ t~o1nmon to the countr.y .. 01~ the ~ummtt o t lC. n ~e,, sno\\ \HS · "lie . and there ueinO' eve1 y mchcatwn of a stream at tts base, we rode ~~~~ntil after dark, hut ~ere unable to reach it, and halted amon~ thesa.~e bushes on the open plain, without either grass or \\~ater. .The t.wo Indta· rubber bacrs had been filled with water in the mormng, wh~ch aflo.rdedsuf· ficicnt fo/'the camp; and rain in the night formed pools, ·whtch rclte~edtc thrist of the animals. \'Vhere we encamped ou the bleak S<~ndy plam, I ,e Indians had made huts or circular enclosures, about four feet h~gh and twche feet broad, of artemisia bushes. \Vhether these had been forts or hous~s, or \Vhat they had been doing in such a desert place, we could not ?scet3·t;~1 : December 23.-Thc weather is mild ; the thermometer at dn~hght , the wind havincr been from the southward for several days. ~he country ltas a very forbiudinO' appearance, prcscntin cr to the eye nothmg bu; sagef anc d banen n•d o·cs. nW e 1 ode up tow an1 s .t1 1 e moun t am. , alonO~' the looto which we toun~l a lake, which we could not approach on account 1 1 of /1~ mud ; and, passing around its southern end, ascended the slope at t le 0~1 of the ridO'e where in some hollow we bad discovered bushes and sma trees-in °s~ch situations, a sure sign of water. We fot~nd here seve~1 springs and the hill side was well sprinkled with a spectes of .festu~~ a bette; O'J'ass than we had found for many dnys. Our elevated postuon gave us ,~ ;ood view over the country, but we discovered nothing v 1 e 1 rY 1 . ckn· couragm• g.l ., Southward, about ten tnt·1 es <.1 ·a ::~tan t , \h"\ S ·a not.h er sma . a eto, towards which a broad trail led along the ridge; and thts appeartng in afford the most practicable route, I determined to continue our JOurney that direction. . and en· December 24.-W c found the water of the lake tolerably pure,' long camped at the farther end. There were som~ goo< 1 ~ra s.s and caf nes a 1 cnopo· the shore, and the vegetation at this place consisted prwc1pally 0 c 1 diaccous shrubs. . li'charge December 25.-We were roused, on Christmas mormng, by ad\t e day; from the small arms and howitzer, with which our people sa~utet t' ~e per· and thi! name of which we bestowed on the lake. It was the II'S 111 n~etn· haps, in thi~ remote and tlcsolatc region, in which it had been .80 c~ur roy· orate<l. Always, on days of religious or national comrnem~ratJO~~e 1 gave ageurs expect some unusual allowance ; anu, having nothmg ' 211 them each a little brandy, (which was carefully guarded, as one of the most useful articles a traveller can carry,) with some coffee and sugar, which here, where every eatable was a luxury, was sufficient to make them a feast. The day was sunny and warm; and, t'esuming our journey, we crossed 8ome slight dividing grounds into a similar basin, walled in on the rigl1L by a lofty mountain ridge. The plainly beaten trail still continued, and occa~ iona lly we passed camping grounds of the Indians, which indicated to me that we were on one of the great thoroughfares of the country. In the afternoon I attempted to travel in a more eastern direction; but, a fter a few laborious miles, was beaten back int the basin by an impassab)c country. There were fresh Indian tracks about the valley, and last night a horse was stolen. We encamped on the valley bottom, where there was snme creamlike water in ponds, colored by a clay soil and frozen over. Chenopodiaceous shrubs-constittlted the growth, and made aga in our fire wood. The animals were driven to the hill, where there was tolerably good grass. . December 2G.-Our general courso was ag:1in E'onth. The country con· s1sts .of largor or smaller basins, into which the mountain waters run down, formtng small Jukes; they present a perfect level, from which the mount~ i~s .rise immcdir~tely and abruptly. Between the su ccessive basins, the dtvtdmg ground& .~ rc usually very slight; and it is probable that, in the easons of high w:1ter, many of these basins arc in communication. At such times there is evidently an ahnndancc of water, though now we find scarce]~ more than the dry beds. On either side, the mountains, though not very ~rgh, appear to be rocky and sterile. The basin in which we were travel- 1wgdcclined toward~ the southwest corner, where the mountains indicated a iJ,ITow outlet; and, turning round a rocky point or cape, \VC continnecl ~p~latcral branch valley, in which we encamped at night on a rapid, pretty httlc stream of fresh water which we found uneXJ)ectedly amonn· the sa~'e h . ' n t"' near t c ndgc, on the right side of the v .1llcy. It was bordered with gra ~sy bottoms and clumps of willows, the W3ler partially frozC' n. This stream belongs to tho ba. in we had left. By a partial obsPrvation to- night, our fanl~ was found to be directly on the 4 ~. l p:Hallel. To night a horse bew Iodn~rng to Carson, one of the best we had in the camp, was sto len by the n tans. December 27 .-We continued up the valley of the stream, the principal hranch of which here issues from n hod of high mountains. W c turned up a branch to the left, and fell in to un Indian trail, which conducted us by a.go.od road over open bottoms along the creek, where the snow was five or pSIaX In· chhes deeJ>. .G r:1dually ascendin(l' the trail led throur..h a O'Ood broad b' b b ss 10 t e mountain, where we found the snow about one foot deep. There were some remarkably large cedars in the pasR, which were covered with an un~s~~l quantity of frost, which we supposed 111ight possibly indicate the neJg orhood of water; and as, in the arbitrary position of l\1ary's lake, we were already beginning to look for it, this circumstance contributed {o our !lope of finding it near. Descending from the mountain, we reached anot ler basin, on the flat lake bed of which we found no wa:er, and :t~~a~ped among the sage on the bordering plain, where thl.! snow was to'-n ~rhout one f?ot deep. Amon~ this the grass was remarkably grecn,.antl ~tt t the anrmals fared tolerably well. ho ecember 28.-The snow being deep, I had detcrm tned, if any"'more rses were stolen, to follow the tracks of the Ind ia n~ into the mountains, |
