508 ocea:n to ocean on horseback. 



ing in the mountains and emptying into lakes which 

 have no visible outlet. Lake Tahoe is twenty-one 

 miles long, ten miles wide and fifteen hundred feet 

 deep. Although it is elevated 6,000 feet above the 

 sea level, the water of this lake never freezes and has 

 a mean temperature of 57° for the year. Nevada has 

 its hot springs, some of which have a temperature of 

 two hundred degrees. 



A heavy growth of timber, particularly of pine, fir, 

 and spruce, covers the eastern slopes of the Sierra 

 Nevada, many of the trees attaining enormous size. 

 There are numerous alkaline flats, and extensive sand 

 plains, where nothing grows. The first discovery of 

 silver ore was made on the Comstock lode in 1859, 

 from which more than $100,000,000 have been taken. 

 This has been the most valuable silver-bearing lode 

 ever discovered in the world, exceeding in wealth the 

 mines of Peru and Mexico. It is now exhausted and 

 yields only low-grade ores. 



Wells, my first resting-point in the Sierras, stands 

 at an elevation of over 5,600 feet, and had a popula- 

 tion of less than 300. Farming and stock raising are 

 its principal industries. Formerly it was a watering 

 and resting-place for old emigrant travel, where pure 

 water was obtained — a luxury after crossing the Great 

 Desert; and an abundance of grass for the weary ani- 

 mals. Some of the wells here are 1,700 feet deep. 



Stopped next for the night at Halleck, a small vil- 

 lage — over 5,000 feet elevation — thirteen miles from 

 Camp Halleck, wdiere United States troops are occa- 

 sionally stationed. Leaving Halleck after a night's rest 

 and a hearty breakfast of ham and eggs, I rode twenty- 

 four miles to Elko^ six hundred and nineteen mile» 



