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Show 36 A half-bred Indian trapper, of that name. Near the foot of this lake can yet be found the ashes of the houses built by the unfortunate Donner party, io protect themselves from the severity of the weather; they were burnt by order of Gen. Kearney, on his return from California in 1847. The road around the lake is b. ad on account of the 2wainpy character of its banks in many places. From this place to the p .ASS, the distance is but 5 miles. This distance is over a succession of ravines, and strips of swamp. You then reach the foot of the steep, over which you have to force your way. We assure you that you will be tried to the utmost, in view of the a palling obstacles to be surmounted, but never despair, others have you over triumphantly you can! Commence and unload, at once pack every thing over the summit, on whatever mule you have in your party ,then haul your wagons up the precipieces with ropes. By adopting this course you will certairJly save time, and perhaps hunQreds of dollars, from breakage of wagon, if not total loss of some of your teams. Some have crossed howe,·er without unloading. Once on the ~umrnit, you can camp a while to rest. The elevation of the Pass is 9338 feet above the sea. This is 2000 feet higher than the South Pass in the Rocky Mountains, yet many peaks in your view are several thousands of feet higher still ; thui, at the extremity of the continent, and near the coast, you witness the phenomenon of a range of mountains still higher than the great Rocky Mount:. ains themselves. This extraordinary fact accounts for ~he great basin, and shows that there must be a system of sn1alllakes and rivers, scattered over a 'flat country, and which the extended range of the Sie~ra Nevada, pre.- . vents from crossing to the Pacific Ocean, Lat. 38 o ·44, 37 J.Jong. 124 o 29. Thus the Pa!s in the mountain, so well rendered in English ~ SNOWY MOUNTAINS, is eleven degrees west, and four degrees south of the Pass. You may now consider yourselves victorious over the mountains, having on.ly the descent of one hundred miles before you. One m1le from the l'ass you come to · A ·sMALL LAICE. The waters here commence their descent towards the Sacramento from this place.Your course is from the right of the Lake. A distance of four miles will lead you to a beautiful valley, having a stream passing through it. Grass of the most luxuriant growth abounds here. This strea~ is c~l~ed YUBA from a tribe of Indians, 1nhab1bng the valley lower do~n. It is a tributary of the Feather River.' fhe road down the Yuba is very bad. You are now fast approaching the "gold region." Some think it ~ill be found in plenty anywhere about your present locahty:You soon leave this valley and cross over the h1gb - strip of country to the . . BEAR RIVER. Distance sixteen or e1ghteen miles. The bed and banks of the river are of a soft peaty nature. About five miles down the river, the road turns ·up the ~ide of the mountain to avoid the canon of the river. This is a bad part of the road. After descending the mountain your course is down stream again for sev- . eral rniles. You then have to go round t h e ~1. ver ' s canon several times, when you reach . LONG CANON. This you will have to avo1~ by as-cending to the top of the rocky ridge. From th1s _place the road re.covers the river, and is pretty rough unbl y~u ~ reach a part of the road w h~re the ascent to the summ1t / is difficult from the steepness of the mountain; on reachc. in g. the top if your wagons ~re very heavily loaded, emp· |