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Show 196 STRONG'S KNOB- CLOTH CAP. richly rewarded for our toil. Beneath us, to the west, lay an extended plain of bare, arid sand- stretching, apparently, to the great range of mountains forming the ancient barrier of the lake-waters in that direction. The water- line of the lake bounded this flat on the north. South- west from the water, and bounded on the east by the range upon which we stood, an immense flat stretched far to the southward, until its termination was lost in the haze which pervaded the atmosphere. This, doubtless, comprised within its dreary waste the desert oyer which we had passed the preceding autumn. To the east and north- east lay the lake in calm and placid beauty; while to the south stretched the broken and rugged mountain upon which we were standing, whose fantastic peaks stood out in bold relief against the pure and azure sky. But, beautiful and interesting as was this vast panorama of mountain, plain, and water, the view to the northward and westward was any thing but encouraging. In continuation of the survey, the distance from this point to Dolphin Island must be traversed; but how, was a question much more easily asked than answered. The cliff, or conical peak, which we climbed to- day, consists of black and gray limestones, of various textures, and all of it highly fossiliferous, its character, in this respect, becoming more marked as we ascended, until we reached the summit, called the " Cap," which is almost entirely formed of a mass of cyathophyllce, imbedded in limestone, constituting a complete conglomerate of these fossils. About halfway up the ascent, was a dark, coarsely granular limestone, crystalline, and filled with minute fossils of Ortris. The cliffs were veined in many places with fine white, fibrous calo spar, half an inch thick, some of which was beautifully variegated and stained by iron. At the western base of the mountain, we found quite a large cave, the walls of which were incrusted, in places, with salt, half an inch thick; and cyathophyllce projected f abundantly from its sides. On our return to camp, a line of soundings was taken from the knob to the island: the deepest water found was ten feet. Tuesday, June 4.- The last two days have been occupied in surveying the island, in finishing the station upon its summit, and reconstructing that on Dolphin Island, which had been destroyed by the storm of Saturday. Our stock of water being reduced to less than one day's supply, I started at sundown for the eastern side of the lake, to renew it, determining to run all night, so as to |