Expedition to Oregon Desert 163 



abundance of these flints was remarkable, and sug- 

 gested that they may have been shot at the game, 

 both winged and otherwise, that in former times 

 frequented the lake." 



After I had written the letter already mentioned, 

 having carefully gone over all the ground in the 

 vicinity of Fossil Lake, and longing for new worlds 

 to conquer, I started out one day on my pony 

 through the desert, hoping to find another locality in 

 which the wind had uncovered a fossil bed. I spent 

 the greater part of the day in fruitless search, and 

 was about to return home when I was attracted by 

 the top of a dead spruce tree sticking out of a sand- 

 hill. The rest of the tree had been completely buried 

 by the sand. 



My curiosity was aroused, and I climbed to the 

 top of the hill to examine the spruce. When I 

 reached the top, however, I found myself looking 

 down into a pleasant little valley, which had been 

 scooped out by the wind, and, descending, I dis- 

 covered that I had stumbled upon the former site of 

 an Indian village. Places near where the lodges 

 had stood were marked by piles of the bleached 

 bones of existing species of antelope, deer, rabbits, 

 etc. None of these bones were petrified like those 

 at Fossil Lake. 



Near the site of each lodge stood a large mortar, 

 made of volcanic rock, with a pestle lying in it. 



