14 GEOLOGICAL HISTUKY OF LAKE LAHONTAN. 



The succession of seasons is less plainly marked on the deserts of the 

 Great Basin than on the forest-covered hills of the Atlantic slope. As 

 autumn advances, but little change appears in the color of the landscape, 

 excepting, perhaps, a spot here and there of gold or carmine high up on 

 the mountains, where a clump of aspens or of dwarfed oaks marks the site 

 of a spring that trickles down and loses itself among the rocks. The valleys 

 with their scanty growth of sage remain unchanged, as do the dusky bands 

 of pines and cedars on the higher mountains As the autumn passes away, 

 the skies lose their intense blue, and become more soft and watery, more 

 like the skies of Italy. The hues of sunset appear richer and more varied, 

 and during the day cloud masses trace moving lines of shadow on the 

 surface of the desert. By and by storm-clouds gather in black, gloomy 

 masses that envelop the ranges from base to summit. These early storm- 

 clouds cling close to the mountains and yield to the parched deserts but a 

 few scattered drops of rain. The observer from below hears the raging 

 tempest amid the veiled peaks, while all about him is sunshine. The 

 mountains wrapped in impenetrable clouds, the glare of lightning and the 

 deep roll of thunder as it echoes from cliff to cliff and from range to range, 

 bring to mind the scriptural account of the storms of Sinai. And when 

 the black clouds at last roll back from the mountains, and the sun with a 

 wand of light dispels the storm, behold what a transfiguration! The peaks 

 are no longer dark and somber, but glitter with the silvery sheen of freshly 

 fallen snow. 



As winter approaches, the storms amid the uplands become more 

 frequent, until every range is white as snow can make it, and the tent-like 

 mountains gleam like the encampment of some mighty host. Long after 

 they are covered, the valleys between are bare as in midsummer, and the 

 snow seldom lies upon them for more than a few days at a time. The 

 highlands retain their snow far into summer, but on none of the ranges can 

 it be said to be perpetual. In the valleys there are flowers beneath the 

 sage-brush by the middle of April, but from that time until November 

 scarcely a drop of rain falls. For many days and sometimes for weeks the 

 skies are without a cloud. 



