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Show 6ALSRATUS LAKE. 67 the two taountain ranges, which bound it on either side and forni its limits. The artemisia seems to have taken complete possession pf the soil, growing five or si* feet high, with twisted stems, resembling somewhat in their texture the ground cedar of the New England coast. At the Devil's Gate I noticed some, quite seven , feet* high and nine inches in diameter. The Wind- River Mountains were seen on the horizon- their sides, for a third part of the distance down from their summits, glistening with snow, in the rays of the morning sun, like burnished silver., They presented a very beautiful object. About a dozen burnt " wagons and nineteen dead oxen were passed to- day along the road;, but the destruction has been by no means as great as upon the North Fork of the Platte and the crossing over to the Sw/ aetwaten ' In the morning we passed what at a distance appeared to be a small lake or pond, frozen over and covered with a very light fall of drifting snow. The illusion was perfect, and was maintained to the last moment, even when riding up to its very margin. It was'found to be a slight depression, about four hundred yards long, by one hundred and fifty in width, covered With an efflorescence of carbonate of soda, deposited on the ground from the evaporation of the water which had held it in solution. This substance, indeed, covers a large portion of the country, and is quite abundant on the banks of the river. The emigrants use it in mixing their bread, and prefer it to the salafratus of the shops for that purpose. x On the south range of mountains, about fifteen miles above the Devil's Gate, a ravine, forined bf a small stream, exposed a section of the rocks. The strata etidently belbnged to the carboniferous system, and had been acted, upon by heat. The limestone was in some instances converted into marble, and other specimens afforded examples of its partial change. It belonged to the dark' slaty- coloured variety, such as had been found at the quarry near Fort Laramie, and has since been seen wherever the lower beds have been tHted up. The red and white sandstone had also been affected by heat, their structure being more crystal- • line. The dip was to the south, and was very great, varying from 70° to * 80°, and some of the lower beds of the red sandstone; were nearly vertical. The sequence of the strata seemed to be exactly the same as had been observed near the Bed Buttes. On the west surface of the hills, which were precipitous, and covered to a great |