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Show CLIFF 0? ALUM SLATE. 169 ances promised a chance of landing. The water was bold to within three or four boats'- length of the pebbly shore, but the men were obliged to get into the water and carry the baggage to land, and thence nearly a quarter of a mile to the foot of the mountain, before finding ground upon which to encamp. Several of them were quite unwell from previous exposure, and all were jaded, stiff, and sore. The nearest water was two miles distant, and had to be carried in India- rubber bags and kegs upon the shoulders. No breakfast was to be had until near noon, and the remainder of the day was devoted to rest and to drying our clothing and bedding. The sun was bright for most of the day, but the wind was keen and cold. The presence or absence of the sun in this climate has a marked influence upon the temperature. The day may be oppressively warm, but as soon as the sun disappears behind the western mountains, a fire is indispensable to comfort. The morning early may be very cold, but soon after the appearance of the sun, cloth coats become uncomfortable. Should the sun become overclouded for any length of time, they are resumed. Segos are here very abundant, and of a large size, and are found in every tuft of bunch- grass. In the vicinity, a cliff was discovered of alum slate, nearly a mile in length, and about sixty feet in height above the lake. It is traversed by several dikes of trap, with cubical crystals of iron pyrites, and by one dike of quartz rock. The slate contains numerous veins of very pure fibrous alum. Between this cliff and Promontory Point there occur strata of mica slate, fine grindstone- grit, sandstone, and albite. Fridayy April 19.- Rain during the night. Morning wet, cold, and raw. Nevertheless, we started in the boat for a large island west of Antelope Island, which the officers of the party had done me the honour to call by my name. After erecting a station upon its northern point, it was my intention to proceed to Black Rocky a large isolated rock on the southern shore of the lake, midway between the two islands, to erect a station upon it: thence I designed to accompany Lieutenant Gunnison to town, and fit out a party, to be placed under his command, for the survey of the eastern shore of the lake, as well as of that part of the valley lying between it and the foot of the Wahsatch range. It rained and snowed several times in the course of the morning, and the day was very cold and unpleasant. We erected the Btation upon a pro- |
