336 EXPLORATIONS ACROSS THE GREAT BASIN OF UTAH. 



■tz-roek were observed between Walker ami ('arson Rivers, not far from who 

 (truck the latter. 



Near the bend of Carson River we also find the unmistakable marks of a form 

 , In numerous water-marks and the calcareous tufa on the sides of hills. 



Thence up Carson River, the whole formation is nlutonie. The rocks a 



nesh-colored or brown feldspathic matrix, and crvstals of glassv feldspar, mica, and 

 quart/; others form a transition to the dioritic porphyries and the Weber River group, 

 containing hornblende, mica, <£c ; they alto-ether merge into each other, and may 

 be Considered as a connecting link between the two groups. Still others are black 

 and vesicular, and conglomeratic tufas occur likewise. 



This and Carson Valley are two of the long series of valleys which stivtriralonsr the 

 foot of the Sierra Nevada, and in which the eye of the weary traveler is, for the first 

 time, relieved by the aspect of green meadows and cultivated fields. The eastern 

 Slope of the Sierra Nevada, along Eagle ami Carson Valleys, is mostly covered by 

 metamorphic strata, siliceous and argillaceous slates of various description, and some 

 siliceous conglomerate; but its main body there is composed of white granitic rocks, 

 which were observed on the Daggett trail, in Lake Valley, and Johnston's Pass. 

 (Sim- under Igneous Rocks.) Carson River Canon is chiefly Vut through these white, 

 coarse, crystalline granites. There the contrast of their precipitous resplendent walls 

 split up into cuboid blocks, like cyolopean mason-work, and tho'.rcen foliar,' the 

 majestic trees, ami foaming mountain-torrent, form an imposing, I might say sublime, 



