METEOROLOGICAL REPORT. 



THE six weeks which were spent in the mountain valley 

 of Smith's Fork were marked by great variations of tempera- 

 ture, and many curious phenomena, both in atmospheric and 

 magnetic changes, which were very noteworthy. We were 

 somewhat sheltered in our camp from the violence of the 

 storms which swept over the mountains above us, but at 

 the last part of our stay we had the only alternative of work- 

 ing early in the morning and on till eleven o'clock A.M., or 

 doing no work at all. When it is also remembered that a 

 height of 3000 feet had to be climbed from our camp before 

 our real day's work began, and that, even then, we were not 

 at all sure that we would not be driven out by electric 

 storms at any moment, some of the difficulties of our work 

 may be appreciated. The storms, usually of snow or hail, 

 set in on the mountains at eleven and continued until late in 

 the afternoon, during which time it was almost an impossi- 

 bility to go near the top of the ridge without the most 

 painful sensations caused by electricity. While the hail- 

 storms lasted (and they were frequent) those who were on 

 the ridge had to seek shelter under the ledges to avoid the 

 hard blows from globes of ice often reaching from one half 

 to three quarters of an inch in diameter. We were finally 

 driven from the mountains by these storms, as they reduced 

 our working hours to a minimum ; and we had to return to 

 Fort Bridger. The meteorological record, though a mere 

 record of the state of the atmosphere for a few days at a 

 time, gives, nevertheless, on a close examination, some very 

 interesting facts in regard to the curious action of the air ; 

 but it can be of no great value otherwise. The observations 

 were taken every fifteen minutes during the days in which 

 they were kept, and were made with more special reference 

 to the corresponding observations of the barometer, in order 



