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Show 202 CAVE AT STRONG'S KNOB- UTAH DIGGER. under the influence of the northern blast, rose upon the beach crossed by the line a few days since so as to extend some six or seven miles to the south of i t ; but this morning it had returned to its old boundaries, upon the subsidence of the gale. The rock composing Strong's Knob is almost entirely block limestone, very hard and close- grained, veined with spar, and very brittle. Tufa occurs near the base of the hill in large masses, several feet thick, some of which, having formed around large rocks, upon which it had deposited itself, had been precipitated with them from the cliffs above. In other cases, it has formed around the masses after they had fallen, encasing them completely with a shell, frequently two feet thick, and had filled up large interstices between them. Frequently the rock itself has disappeared, leaving the tufa behind, somewhat like a hollow mould after the cast* ing has been removed. At the north- west end of the peninsula is an outcrop of compact sandstone and millstone grit, fifty feet thick, capped by black fossiliferous limestone, slightly inclined. All attempts at taking angles from the station to- day were rendered abortive by the haze which filled the atmosphere and obscured and concealed every distant object. In ascending the mountain, quite a large cave was accidently discovered in the hillside, penetrating about sixty feet, with a width of twenty- five feet and height of ten. It had been the resort of deer and antelope. The rock is black and gray limestone, with some calcareous conglomerate. Wednesday, June 12.- Moved camp about five miles to the » southward. The ridge continues parallel with the shore, and descends by a gentle slope nearly to the water. The shore is rocky with scarcely any sand- flat. As we were rowing along the shore, we espied an old Indian, with his squaw and papoose, running down the mountain to hail us. We landed, to inquire of him as to the prospect for water ahead of us; but he could give us no information on this subject. He was a Utah digger, and proved to be the same old fellow who had come to us last autumn, in Spring Valley, and who had engaged to bring in a " give- out" mule which we had left behind, for the promised reward of a new blanket. I questioned him about the mule, but he only laughed and would give me no satisfaction. The poor donkey had doubtless furnished his lodge with meat for the winter. He was an old man, nearly sixty, quite naked, except an old breech- cloth and a tattered pair of moccasins. His wife |
