226 CALIFORNIA ALKALINE AND BOBACIC LAKES. 



lake, and so perceptibly raise its temperature for a considerable distance 

 around. Much gas and steam escape from a fissure caused by the sinking of 

 a portion of the crust, while on the eastern part of the island are two well- 

 defined craters, now filled with water. 



Mono Lake is, during the summer, the resort of myriads of gulls and 

 other aquatic birds, which are most numerous during breeding-season, 

 but the water is believed to be entirely destitute of life, with the exception 

 of a small crustacean, Artemia fertilis, nearly related to the so-called brine- 

 shrimp (Artemia salind) found in the strong brine of the salt-pans on Euro- 

 pean coasts, and the Koo-cha-hee of the Indians, a whitish larva, occurring 

 in immense quantities, and which is much esteemed by them as an article of 

 food. 



Stretching south of the lake is a chain of extinct volcanoes, presenting 

 the form of truncated cones, of which the generally steep sides are covered 

 with ashes and other loose materials. Obsidian and pumice are abundant 

 on the surface of these cones, and also cover the plains at their b-ase. 



Owen's Yalley is a narrow basin lying south of Mono Lake, and running 

 nearly north and south for a distance of about 140 miles. Its average width 

 may be taken at ten miles. It is bounded along its western edge by the 

 Sierra Nevada, which in this portion of its course presents an almost un- 

 broken wall, of which the highest peak, opposite Owen's Lake, reaches an 

 elevation of 15,000 feet. No pass crosses it at a less height than 11.000 feet, 

 and near the lake shore the descent from the summit to the valley beneath 

 must have an average inclination of at least 1,000 feet per mile, the dis- 

 tance being from ten to eleven miles, and the difi'erence of level between 

 the highest point of the pass and the valley being from 10,500 to 11,000 

 feet. 



On the eastern side of this valley are the Inyo Mountains, toward its 

 southern end, and the White Mountains further north. This range is dry and 

 desert-like, and not a single stream of any size flows from it into Owen's 

 Valley, which is exclusively watered by the melting of the snows accumu- 

 lated during the winter months on the eastern slope of the Sierra. Owen's 

 river rises a short distance from the source of the San Joaquin, and, after 

 flowing for a distance of 120 miles, falls into Owen's Lake at latitude 36° 

 20' north, longitude 118° west from Greenwich. This lake, of which the 

 water is exceedingly saline and strongly alkaline, is twenty miles long and 

 eight wide. It has no visible outlet, and its shores are often thickly coated 

 with a snow-like alkaline incrustation. 



No fish inhabits its water, but Koo-cha-bee is abundant, and at certain 

 seasons is carried in by the waves and deposited on the shores in layers of 

 several inches in thickness. This was formerly collected in large quantities 

 by the Indians, and, after being dried in the sun, rubbed between the hands 

 and roughly winnowed, was crushed in a stone mortar, and made into a 

 sort of bread, which furnished an important article of food. This insect, 

 which has been described as a white grub, is also found abundantly in the 



