OCR Text |
Show FREMONT'S ISLAND. 159 main shore to the island, which is constantly resorted to on account of its affording on the whole of its eastern slope one of the finest ranges for horses and cattle to be found in the whole valley. Being insulated from the main shore, it affords great comparative security from depredations by the Indians. On account of these advantages, and of its being accessible by water, I directed the herd, which had been wintered in Tuilla Valley, to be driven to this island. They were placed under the charge of the herdsman licensed by the Mormon authorities to receive all the cattle which may be committed to his care, he giving bond and security for their safe return, and being held responsible for any loss that may occur. The herd remained here until our departure from the country. Saturday, April 6.- The night was windy, and the morning cold and raw. Left camp in the boat for an island distant about ten miles to the northward, called by the Mormons, Castle Island, for the purpose of erecting a station upon its summit. In crossing from the camp to the island, the lead was kept constantly going. The deepest water found was twelve feet, the depth varying generally from three and a half to six. Doubling the northern cape of the island, we landed upon a narrow beach, west of a projecting little reef consisting principally of green hornblende rock. Mica schist also crops out, at an angle of 70°. From the drift- wood on the shore, three long poles were selected and carried to the summit of the highest peak of the island, and a station built with them. This- was a work of severe labour, as the island was at least eight or nine hundred feet high, the timber heavy, and the ascent, in some places, very steep, exceeding an angle of forty- five degrees. As we rise to the summit, argillaceous schists predominate, filled with cubes of bisulphuret of iron, many of which were found among the detritus of the decomposing rock. Boiled stones and pebbles of quartz and granite, imbedded in a sedimentary rock forming a conglomerate, were also found, with tufa. Upon the side of a large and singular mass of schistose rock, with three large holes worn entirely through it by the disintegration of its softer particles, we found a cross cut into the stone, apparently with a chisel. From the highest table of the island rises an oblong rocky eminence, resembling, from some points of view, ruins of an ancient castle, whence it had received from the Mormons its name of " Castle Island." Fremont called it " Disappointment Island." I deemed it but due, however, to the first |