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Show 166 ROCK- GATE CAMP. the skiff and dragged as far as possible, when the whole had to be packed upon our shoulders and carried to the shore, a distance of rather more than half a mile, through a black, tenacious, and fetid ooze, which rendered wading an excessively fatiguing task. The camp was pitched in a wide rocky ravine, which had cut entirely through the southern point of a low rocky peninsula, at the foot of and parallel with the main promontory, and we gave it the name of the " Rook Gate" camp. The formation here was a compact, massive, blue limestone, thickly and irregularly marked with close seams. Numerous brackish and sulphur springs percolate from beneath the foot of the cliffs, forming a black oozy mud, which filled the air with its nauseous odour. Water was found in small quantities at the foot of the mountains to the westward, half a mile distant; and wood for cooking was furnished by the wild sage which grew in scattered patches on the sides of the hills. Tuesday, April 16.- The survey of Bear- River Bay had been carried on by two parties; that on the eastern side being under the command of Lieutenant Gunnison. In the afternoon a violent storm came up suddenly from the westward, accompanied by thunder, and a gale which instantly prostrated our little encampment. A copious fall of rain, mingled wkh hail, wetted my party to the skin before reaching camp. The damage was soon repaired, and the tents repitched amid rain, hail, and snow. As the storm continued with unabated violence, I began to entertain serious apprehensions for the other party, under Lieutenant Gunnison, who were engaged on the flats on the eastern side of the bay; lest, in the darkness, they should miss their way, and be unable to return. At dusk a large signal- fire was built on the hilltop, and guns were fired at intervals to attract their attention. But the night passed without their appearing. Early the following morning they came into camp, covered from head to foot with salt and mud, cold, wet, hungry, and thoroughly exhausted. A more forlorn- looking group it has seldom been my lot to behold. Anticipating their arrival in some such plight, I had had an early breakfast prepared, with plenty of hot coffee; after partaking of which, they were immediately wrapped in blankets, and a sound sleep restored them to their accustomed strength. The following extract from the journal of Lieutenant Gunnison will give an idea of what they endured in the course of the night. The storm overtook them in the midst of the extensive mud- flats |