A Forty-niner in Utah with the Stansbury Exploration of Great Salt Lake: Letters and Jounral of John Hudson, 1848-50

Forty-niner in Utah, page 154

Exploring Great Salt Lake The Island is about one mile long by 2 mile broad & has several good coves with 10 ft. water almost close to the shore. The men were in excellent spirits & one of them emphatically declared that "he would not have missed seeing the Island for five dollars." Late as it was, after having recruited by supper, the violin was in requisition & considerably to our annoyance, the abominable scraping continued until finding it impossible to sleep, Mr C. ordered the enraptured Fiddler to bed. Thursday May 9 The night was stormy & the high wind & rain continuing until the afternoon of this day we were unable to leave our tents. The Pelican afforded us immense amusement his indignation was excessive & expressed in the most ludicrous manner, by snap- ping in a very spiteful but impotent way at the group that sur- rounded him. We had the unusual luxury of eggs for breakfast & found them both of the pelican & gull excellent. About 3 P.M. the Capt. ordered the boat to be prepared & shortly after we went on board, carrying the Pelican with us who appeared more resigned to his novel position. The men had a heavy pull the waves running high for the depth of the lake. We ran into a pretty little cove commanding a view of the chain of mountains on the north of the lake.* This is our 9th En- campment. 7o *Here the pelican rapidly falling away & rejecting such food as we gave him, the Capt unfettered the sulky captive & gave him his liberty. He was not however fated to return again to the bosom of his family, for after sailing for some time against wind & waves he was washed ashore near our 7th Encampment recaptured & slain & boiled to a skeleton. "Sic transit" 7o Camp No. 9 was in the vicinity of Spring Bay near the head of the lake. While the "boys" were much amused with the antics of the pelican, Carrington noted "Pellican & gull eggs for breakfast, with sweet butter, they are very fine-" Carrington, Journal, 9 May, p. 12. 154