INTKOIHTT1 



as described under date of Ju 



their arrows." 1 . 



A third plant, which, pro' 

 co-extensive with it and the 

 jourm 1 



in height 



The rabbit is mostly found where it prevails.™ 



Another tolerably common plant, which, however, docs not show itself to any 

 considerable extent until you reach the western portion of the Great Basin, is the 

 lyphira pethicuhtta, a sketch of which is seen in journal, under date of May 21. m 



A fourth plant, or, as it may be called, a tree, which I have never seen any- 

 where else than in the mountains of the Great Basin, is what the Mormons call the 

 mountain mahogany. It is found in scattered proves, usually near the summit of the 



what that of the live-oak. It is somewhat scrubby in appearance, ramifying in several 

 branches from the ground, and not unfrequently attains a height of from 15 to 20 ievt, 

 and an aggregate diameter, across its branches, in the tree, of 15 to 20 feet. Its wood 

 is very hard, and is used for cogs, journals, gudgeons, &c. It is not seen in consider- 

 able quantities. (See sketch in journal, under date of May 12.) ra 



The chief complexion of the face of the country is, I have a bendy remarked, a sort 

 of bronze color, caused by the all-prevailing artemisia, which has in the map a color 

 of this kind. Another characteristic which occasionally obtains is the white alkaline 

 efiloresence which margins, in portions, some of the streams, such as Meadow Creek, 

 Steptoe Creek, Reese's Kivcr, Walker's liiver, and which sometimes characterizes 

 whole valleys, such as White and Alkali valleys. These streams and valleys, when 

 seen in the distance, have all the appearance of being draped in virgin snow. The 

 alkali, however, does not appear to affect the taste of the water of the streams men- 

 tioned, though that of the wells dug in the alkaline valleys were nauseously unpala- 

 table. This saline efflorescence is a sure poison to vegetation, and hopelessly worth- 

 less is anv soil where it is seen. It is the tact, too, (and it is one of great importance in 

 this Territory), that soils which have been originally quite productive under cultiva- 

 tion have, by that very process, .gradually become more and more alkaline, until at 

 lemrth, on account of their unproductiveness from this cause, they have of necessity 

 been abandoned. This has been the history of many a field in Great Salt Lake and 

 Utah Valleys, and I am inclined to the belief that it will be the history of the greater 

 portion of the cultivable land of the Territory. These soils, particularly of the val- 

 leys, on account of the streams within them havin g no outlets, a r e more or less impreg- 



(»i) See scientific description,!^ Dr. Geo. Engetraann, Appendix M. 



