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Show 212 SALT WATER BATHING- ANALYSIS OF THE LAKE WATER. that had been erected upon prominent headlands on the shore and on the summits of the several islands. While engaged upon this duty, we frequently enjoyed the luxury of bathing in the water of the lake. No one, without witnessing it, can form any idea of the buoyant properties of this singular water. A man may float, stretched at full length, upon his back, having his head and neck, both his legs to the knee, and both arms to the elbow, entirely out of water. If a sitting position be assumed, with the arms extended to preserve the equilibrium, the shoulders will remain above the surface. The water is nevertheless extremely difficult to swim in, on account of the constant tendency of the lower extremities to rise above it. The brine, too, is so 6trong, that the least particle of it getting into the eyes produces the most acute pain; and if accidentally swallowed, rapid strangulation must ensue. I doubt whether the most expert swimmer could long preserve himself from drowning, if exposed to the action of a rough sea. Upon one occasion a man of our party fell overboard, and, although a good swimmer, the sudden immersion caused him to take in some mouthfuls of water before rising to the surface. The effect was a most violent paroxysm of strangling and vomiting, and the man was unfit for duty for a day or two afterward. He would inevitably have been drowned had he not received immediate assistance. After bathing, it is necessary to wash the skin with fresh water, to prevent the deposite of salt arising from evaporation of the brine. Tet a bath in this water is delightfully refreshing and invigorating. The analysis of this water by Dr. Gale * has shown that it contains rather more than 20 per cent, of pure chloride of sodium, and not more than 2 per cent, of other salts, forming " one of the purest and most concentrated brines known in the world." Its specific gravity was 1.17, but this will slightly vary with the seasons, being doubtless affected by the immense floods of fresh water which come rushing down into it from the mountains, in the spring, caused by the melting of the snows in the gorges. Thursday, July 16.- To- day we took a final leave of this singular lake. The difficulty of finding water fit for the ordinary purposes of life- the necessity of transporting, by means totally inadequate, every pound of provisions and every drop of water needed for the daily consumption of a large party of men- the unavoidable distance of our depflt, and the barren, savage inhospi- |
