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Show 226 THE NEEDLES- BEAR RIVER- COAL BED- TAR SPRINGS. rise, 81°. In - a quarter of a ihile the roa* turns abruptly to the right and follows up Needle Creek, ( a branch of Yellow Creek,) with a gentle ascent, passing a ridge crowned with broken pointed crags of conglomerate, which, from the acicular form of the pro* jections, has gained for it the nam$ of " The Needles." > Ascending to the head of this stream, we descend into the valley of Bear River, the low bottom of which is here about a mile and a- half wide, and thickly covered, with dumps of cotton- wood. The river is about four hundred feet in, width, two and a- half in depth, flowing with a strong current over a bed of large pebbles. Crossing this stream the road keeps the valley of Sulphur Creek for about two miles, where we halted to noon, near an excellent spring of good cold water. A meridian observation gave for latitude 41° 08' 08". 28. A short distance north of the road, and on the north bank of the creek, a bed of bituminous coal was discovered, between two nearly vertical dikes of light- gray coarse- grit sandstone, one hundred and fifty feet apart, the course of which is north, 80° east. The outcrop Was about eight feet wide by four feet thick, and wa* only visible against the south side of the north dike. It appeared to be quite an extensive deposite, but its depth and width can only be ascertained by further examination. Specimens of it, although much weathered, burned in the camp- fire with a clear, bright flame. The seam had a direction apparently the same as that of the dikes, with a dip of 70° S. t 70° E. From the base of the bluff issued several sulphur springs, and south about a mile and a- half,. a spring of Petrolinm, or mineral tar, oozes from the low hank of a little rivulet flowing into the valley of Sulphur Creek from the south- west. The emigrants collect it for medicinal purposes and for greasing their wagon- wheels. The bank from which it issues is full of rolled pebbles, but no ledge is visible. From this point to the southward lay a broad expanse of country, considerably lower than our level, stretching away toward the heads of Bear River. To the south- east a little park of timber grew near the bluffs which form what is termed the " Rim of the Basin/' and from which flow the heads of Sulphur Creek: to the eastward a low table extended toward the heads of the Muddy, a tributary of the Colorado of the Gulf of California. Returning to our place of nooning, we again struck into the road, and, passing over a level country for two or three miles, we at length ascended the ridge dividing the waters which discharge themselves within the Great Basin, from those which flow into the Pacific. |