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Show 196 STRONGS KNOB- CLOTH CAP. richly rewarded for our toil. Beneath us, to the. west, lay an extended plain of bare, apid sand- stretching, apparently, to the great tange of mountains forming the ancient barrier of the lake-waters in that direction. The water- line of the lake bounded this flat on the north. South- West from the- water, and bounded on the east by the; range upon whiah We stood, an immense fiat'stretched far to the southward, until its termination Was'lost in the haze which pervaded the atmosphere. This, doubtless, comprised within' its dreary waste the desert oyer which we had passed the preceding autumn. '• To the east and north- east- lay the. lake in calm and placid beauty; while to the south stretched the broken and rugged mountain upon which we were standing, whose fantastic peaks . stood out in bold relief against the. pnre and azure sky. But, beautiful and interesting as was this vast panorama of mountain^ plain, and water, the view to the northward and westward was any thing but encouraging. In continuation of the survey, the distance from this point to Dolphin Island must be traversed; but how, was a question much more easily asked than answered. The cliffy or conical peak, which we climbed to- day, consists of black and gray limestones,, of various textures,, and all of k highly fossiliferous, its character,, in this respect, becoming more marked as we . ascended, until we reached the summit, called the " Cap," which is almost entirely formed of a mass of cyathophyUct, im- . bedded in limestone, constituting a complete conglomerate of these fossils. About halfway up the ascent, was a dark, coarsely granular limestone, crystalline, ami filled with minute fossils of Ortris. ' The cliffs were veined . in many places, with fine white, fibrous calc • spar, half an inch thick, some of which was beautifully variegated and stained by iron. At . the western base of the mountain, we fopnd gtiite « large cave, the walls of which were incrusted, in places, with salt, half an inch thick; and cyathophyUce projected abundantly from its sides. On our return to camp, a line of soundings was taken from the knob to the island: the deepest water found was ten feet. Tuesday, June 4.-- The last two days have been occupied in surveying the island, in finishing the station upoh its summit, and reconstructing that on Dolphin Island, which had been destroyed by the storm of Saturday. Our stock. of water being reduced to less than ene day's supply, I started . at sundown for the eastern side of the. lake, to renew it, determining to run all night, so as to |
