382 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. 



tion, excepting occasional patches of artemesia and 'grease-wood,' 

 and they glitter in the sunlight, presenting the appearance of water so 

 perfectly, that it is almost impossible for one to convince himself that 

 he is not on the immediate shore of the lake itself. This is owing to 

 the crystallization of minute portions of salt on the surface of the mud, 

 and the oozy slime occasioned by the complete saturation of the soil 

 with moisture. From this cause, also, arises a mirage which is 

 greater here than I ever witnessed elsewhere, distorting objects in the 

 most grotesque manner, and giving rise to optical illusions almost be- 

 yond belief. I anticipate serious trouble from this cause, in making 

 the triangulation. 



l " The first part of this desert was about seventy-five miles in ex- 

 tent, and occupied us two days and a half to cross it, travelling all day, 

 and the greater part of the night ; walking a great portion of the way 

 to relieve the mules, which began to sink under the want of suste- 

 nance and w r ater. In the latter portion of the first desert we crossed a 

 field of solid salt, which lay incrusted upon the level mud plain, so 

 thick that it bore up the mules loaded with their packs, so perfectly 

 that they walked upon it as if it had been a sheet of solid ice, slightly 

 covered with snow. ' The whole plain was as level as a floor. We 

 estimated this field to be at the least ten miles in length, by seven in 

 width, and the thickness of the salt at from one half to three quarters 

 of an inch. A strip of some three miles in width had been previously 

 crossed, but it was not thick or hard enough to prevent the animals 

 from sinking through it into the mud at every step. The salt in the 

 solid field was perfectly crystallized, and, where it had not become 

 mixed with the soil, was as white and fine as the best specimens of 

 Salina table salt. Some of it was collected and preserved. After 

 crossing the field of salt we struck upon a fine little stream of running 

 water, with plenty of grass, lying at the foot of a range of mountains, 

 which seemed to form the western boundary of the immediate valley 

 of the lake. The latter part of the desert was about seventy miles in 

 extent, and was passed in two days, by prolonging our marches far in- 

 to the night. 



" From the knowledge gained by this expedition, I am of the opin- 

 ion that the size of the lake has been much exaggerated ; and from ob- 

 servation, I am induced to believe that its depth has been much over- 

 rated. That it has no outlet, is now demonstrated beyond doubt ; and 

 I am convinced, from what I have seen, that it can never be of the 

 slightest use for the purpose of navigation. The water, for miles out 

 from the shore, wherever I have seen it, is but a few inches in depth ; 

 and if there is any deep water, it must be in the middle. The Utah 

 River (or the Jordan, as the Mormons call it), is altogether too insig- 

 nificant and too crooked to be of any use commercially. The greatest 

 depth of the Utah Lake that we have found is 16 feet; so that, for the 

 purpose of a connected line of navigation, neither the river nor the 

 lakes can be of the slightest utility. Such, at least, is my present im- 

 pression. Further examination of Salt Lake may, perhaps, modify 

 this opinion with regard to the latter. The river connecting these two 

 lakes is forty-eight miles in length." 



