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Show THE PACIFIC SLOPE. 107 Donner Lake, so named in memory of those unfortunate emigrants from Quincy, Illinois, who here starved and froze and suffered away the long cold winter of 1846. Next we look down upon Lake Bigler, and another hour brings us to Summit Station, highest point on the Central Pacific, 7,042 feet above sea- level, 1,669 miles from Omaha, and 105 from Sacramento. We enter now upon the west-ern slope, with its steep de-scent ; and with the breaks " set up" and very little steam, we still rush along at a fe a r fu 1 rate, at one place running twenty- five miles in thirty minutes, with-out an ounce of steam. For-ty miles of snow- sheds have been erected along this part of the line at a cost of a million and a half dollars; to the great assurance of winter pas-sage, but an equal hinderance to enjoyment of the view. Running out upon a more gentle grade, we pass in rapid succes-sion, Dutch Flat, Little York, You Bet, and Red Dog, all old min-ing towns, the largest still containing three thousand inhabitants. All along the road we see mile after mile of flumes running in every direction down the ridges, and carrying large streams to be used in hydraulic mining below; and in places pass hundreds of acres of " old dirt," which has been washed out and abandoned. All are alert for the view of Cape Horn, the wonder of this route ; but the sight is not good for nervous people. An awful chasm, at first apparently right before us, and then but a little to the left, opens directly across the range ; and, standing on the steps of the car, it seems as if the train were rushing headlong into it. The first view allows the sight to pierce a thousand feet, almost straight SEVEN THOUSAND FEET ABOVE THE SEA. |
