8 



succession to the Herd House or cattle yards of Judge Carter ; to the St. Louis 

 Mills; to Gilbert's Meadows; and to our other two camps, the one near the 

 head-waters of the west branch of Smith's Fork, and the other at the centre of 

 the valley of the east branch, or main Smith's Fork. Our barometers were care- 

 fully compared before and after each trip, or day's work, and the station barom- 

 eter was always carried as near to the base of the mountain as was possible. 

 A north and south line was preserved as much as possible in the relative situa- 

 tion of the instruments. In ascending the side of a mountain we were often 

 enabled by means of our levels to know when we were on a line with the top 

 of some previously measured mountain on the other side of the valley, and by 

 measuring this point also we were often able to obtain a second measurement, 

 which was in general very satisfactory in its comparison with the former one. 

 Towards the latter part of our stay the rainy season of the fall came on, and 

 heavy rains, with storms of snow and hail on the mountains, generally lasting 

 from 10 A.M. to 4 P.M., drove us from them. Bidding them a reluctant farewell,, 

 we returned to the Fort, making measurements by barometer, sketching pro- 

 files, and making sections, with which, and with the aid of some other maps at 

 the Fort, we finished the map of the country between the Fort and the moun- 

 tains. The hypsometric and topographic work are combined in the main map 

 accompanying the report, which has been prepared with great care. By com- 

 paring our map with that of the government survey of the fortieth parallel, it 

 will be readily seen that it differs in some particulars from the map of the same 

 valley given by that survey. It cannot be expected from a general survey, such 

 as was intended in that work, that it should contain all the details of a special 

 survey such as ours. To a person merely passing through the eastern part of 

 the valley it presents many of the aspects given on the above-mentioned map ^ 

 but the appearances in that valley are very deceptive, and a closer examination 

 reveals the features given in our map. After the regular reports we have given 

 an itinerary of the whole trip, believing it will be interesting to those who wish 

 to follow us in our daily work in the West, as it combines, in a condensed 

 shape, the diaries of both of us. Our thanks are due to Colonel Flint, com- 

 mandant of the Fort ; to Lieutenant-Adjutant True, Lieutenant Scott, commis- 

 sary ; Judge W. A. Carter, Dr. J. Van A. Carter, and Mr. R. H. Hamilton, for 

 many courtesies and great aid in the furtherance of our work. We shall long 

 remember with pleasure our leisure hours passed among the pleasant people of 

 that little island in the desert, where we met so many kind friends. And the 

 warm reception, with the kind-hearted farewells, will always raise happy memo- 

 ries in that division of our scientific expedition. Leaving a few days later (Sep- 

 tember 6th) we joined the rest of the party at Cheyenne : then with only a stop 

 at Chicago over Sunday, we set our faces eastward, with little to regret and 

 much to be happy over. 



WILLIAM LIBBEY, JR. 



W, W. MCDONALIX 

 C. F. BRACKETT, M.D. 

 JOSEPH KARGE; Ph.D. 



