ON THE GREAT SANDY DESERT. 155 



and extended as far as the eye could reach. The bottom was 

 covered with jagged, splintered rocks, which had at one time 

 been subjected to intense heat, and the sides, which arose 

 perpendicularly above it, were rough and uneven and covered 

 with sharp projections. Gulches like this are quite common 

 on the Great Desert, and as it is unreasonable to suppose that 

 they have been hollowed out by floods, as rain rarely if ever 

 falls in these regions, we are forced to conclude that the under- 

 pinning of the earth's surface has given way in such places 

 and allowed it to sink. The peculiar formation of the earth 

 here to some distance below the surface, w^hich had the 

 appearance of having once been a mass of molten lava, gives 

 rise to the supposition that at some remote time the country 

 had been covered to a considerable depth with the vomitings 

 which made this plain one vast sea of fire. 



Our road was exceedingly rough from the bed of stones 

 which covered it, and we traveled slowly. Late in the after- 

 noon we were overtaken by an Indian with the missing horse, 

 which we supposed had long since been disposed of by horse- 

 beef appreciating Diggers and was quietly reposing in their 

 stomachs. But the Indians had been true to their charge, 

 and after a long search for the missing animal had found 

 him. The Mormons wishing to instil into his mind the trite 

 maxim, "Honesty is the best policy," and to further enable 

 him at some future time to resist the temptation of converting 

 live horse into beef, liberally rewarded the conscientious 

 Digger with shetcop and clothing, and he retraced his steps 

 rejoicingly and in a brisk canter. 



It was near midnight when, having crossed the jornado, we 

 descended a steep, sandy bluff and encamped in the midst of 

 pitchy darkness on the shores of the Rio de los Angeles, or 

 rather where it should be, as the river is here subterranean. 

 We procured enough of water, however, in a marsh close at 

 hand, bu^ it was disagreeably brackish. We found encamped 



