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Show 190 FORMATION WEST OF THE LAKE- FIELD OF SALT. < crossed it, and attempted ako to cross the channel which separated it from the main shore, when we were driven back by the depth, of the water. * After a hearty breakfast oft fresh berf- bone soup, which the poor fellows from the region of ^ Tophet" enjoyed exceedingly, they were despatched after the rest of their company, with directions to join me at once,, in order to survey the island upon which we were at present encamped. They were in rather a deplorable condition; their coffee being exhausted- their flour almost gone-- and their stock of water reduced to a single five- gallon keg; The rest of the day was spent in erecting a station upon the highest peaks of the island, and in unloading the yawl Upon a platform- placed upon kegs and barrels set up in the water, preparatory to hauling her up, she having become so leaky, from thumping on the rocks and being dragged over sand* bars, as to endanger the safety of the provision^ The gnats here were perfectly intolerable, and drove us almost mad. The character of the country passed over by the line of survey during my absence was much the same as that whioh had prevailed more to* the northward; viz. extended plains, with grease- Wood and sage. Water, there was none; and our sole dependence was now upon the supply to be furnished by the boat from the eastern side of the lake. The detritus from the mountains, whenever encountered, consisted principally of compact sandstone, abundance of calcareous tufa, coarse sandstone, and conglomerate. From the report of Mr. Carrington, of a partial examination made by him of the range west of Dolphin Island, it consists of calcareous tufa and conglomerate, overlying which was argillaceous limestone of various colours and texture, extending to the base of the short spurs of the ridges; above this was found blaek, bluish, and gray limestone, very compact and fine grained, veined with calc spur; above this again, was an inferior or earthy limestone, overlaid by a brownish-gray fossiliferous limestone, capped by an argillaceous limestone, which extended to the summit of the range. The vegetation was the ever- recurring artetnisia, bunch- grass, and a few scattering dwarf cedars not more than ten feet high. On the fiats near the lake, and immediately west of the island, i) large field of solid salt occurred, beautifully crystallized upon the'sand, about half an inch thick; and the orystals, from one to two inches in diameter, glittered in the bright sunshine like a bed |
