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Show 166 BOCK- GATK CAMP. the skiff and dragged as far as possible, wtien the whole had to be packed upon our shoulders and carried to the shore, A distance of rather more than half a mile, through a Hack, tenacious, and fetid ooze, which rendered wading an excessively fatiguing task. The camp WAS pitched in a wide rocky ravine, which had cut entirely through the eouthefn point of a low rocky peninsula^ at the foot of and parallel with the main promontory, and we gave it th* name of the " Rock Gate" camp. $ he formation here was a compact, massive* blue limestone, thickly and irregularly marke4 with close seams. Numerous brackish and sulphur springs percolate from beneath the foot of the - cliffs, forming a black oozy mud, which filled the air with its nauseous odour. Water was found in small quantities at the foot of the mountains to the westwardr half a mile distant; and wood for cooking was furnished by the wiM sage which grew in scattered patches on the sided of the hills. • * Tuesday, April 16.- The survey of Bear- River Bay had been carried on by two parties; that on the eastern side being under the command of Lieutenant Gunnison. In the afternoon a violent storm came up suddenly from, the westward, accompanied by thunder, and a gale which instantly prostrated- our little encampment. A copious fall of rain, mingled with hail, wetted my party to the skin before reaching camp. The damage was soon repaired, and the tents repitched amid rain, hail, and snow. , > As the stoirm pontinued with unabated violence, I began to en-tertaih serious apprehensions for the other party, under Lieutenant Gunnison, who were engaged on the flats on the eastern side of the bay; lest, in the darkness, they should miss their way, and. be " unable to return. At dusk a large signal- fire was built on the hilltop, and guns were fired at intervals to attract their attention. But the night passed without their appearing. ' Early the following morning they came into ca^ ap, covered from head to foot with salt and mud, cold, wet, hungry, and thoroughly exhausted. A more forlorn- looking group it has seldom been niy lot to behold. Anticipating their arrival in some such plight, I had had an early breakfast prepared, with plenty of hot coffee; after partaking of which, they were immediately wrapped in. blankets, and a sound Bleep restored them to their accustomed strength. The following extract from the journal of Lieutenant Gunnison will give, an idea of what they endured in the course of the night. The storm overtook them in the midst of the extensive, pud- flats |