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Show 100 RECONNOISSANCE ABOUND GBEAT# SALT LAKE. As soon as they perceiVed the rest of gilr party moving toward them from the plain, the whole band, consisting of some six or eight men and half a d, ozen squaws, retreated incontinently up the. mountain, and in ^ few minutes totally disappeared, nor did we * see them again*, As we continued to advance, ye passed through t^ eir encampment, which, £ hey had abandoned jn such hap te. that, they lift every thing as it was at the moment of their, flight- . the. kettle was^ boiling over the fire, and a good gun rested against * a bush'.; We Mt aft untouched, and did not even dismount, as we . f fcnew they were watching us from ^ behind the rocks, and t was de- \ sirous of, conviitcing th$ m of our peaceable disposition. Fallowing down the, eastern base of tfie promontory for about two miles, we encamped on a small spring- branch, coming down from the, mountain*;, furnishing , viery tolerable. water and. plenty of grass- 7- , Refreshment mo& t welcome to our jaded > n£ famished animals, which had not had a full meal for nearly two days. At the Indian . camp there was a spring,, but the water, although abundant., * was salt and unfit for use. Temperature ovf the spring, 8^°. The mountain or main promontory seemed to be . composed of limestone, altered shales, and sandstones*: it rises. from fifteen hundred- to. two thousand feat. . f ; Monday^ October- 22.-: Ther. at sunrise 25°. Morning clear and calm. The Salt Lake, which lay about half a mile to tho . eastward, was covered by immense flocks of wild, geese and'duckp, • * among* which many swans were seen, being distinguishable'by their siz£ and the whiteness of their plumage. .1 had seen large flocks of these birds before, in various parts of our country, and especially upon the Potomac* but never did I behold any thing - Mike the immense numbers here congregated together. Thousands . of ^ cresvas far as. the eye could areach, seemed literally covered with, them, presenting a scene, of busy, animated cheerfulness, in . i most graceful contrast with the dreary, silent solitude by which » we were immediately surrounded. % . ^, I Our - course until noon wassputh, along* the base of the high'groT i mintory whi^ h^ puts into the lake from the north. On pur left, for about ti^ ree miles from our encampment,' was an isolated knob or hill, separated from the main range by a grasqy plain. It consisted of limestone and slaty qhales, in the former of which were some small cajves. The rooks were thrpwil up at a very high angle, and in" some . places were perpendicular, and rested, as far as could. be ascertained, * on a primitive formation below. Toward the souther* end of 4fie ' * ' \ • / . • |