HUMBOLDT RIVER, CARSON LAKE, AND OWENS RIVER AND LAKE. 4SJ 



December 9.— Camped near the head of the lake. No grass : the water exceedingly 



bad and salty. Charley, (our cook,) to improve (!) the already horrid taste <rivcn 

 to onr coffee by the bad water, added some greasewood or other noxious weed, v,'ivin«r 

 it a flavor too unsavorv even for appetites as keen-set as ours. This lake is about 

 twenty-two miles in length, and eleven or twelve in the widest part. To the 

 eastward of our camp runs a valley. About twelve, miles down it Walker savs he 

 found springs of good water and an abundance of good grass, the springs forming a 

 small lake. To-night the horses, driven to desperation by their bad fare, a large num- 

 ber of them eluding the vigilance of the guard escaped to the other side of the lake, 

 where they were found in the morning, having discovered somewhat better grass than 

 ^e had at our camp. 



December 10. — Leaving camp we traveled up a vallev leading from the southern 

 end of Walker's Lake, a little east of south; at about eight miles we crossed a low 

 ridge, heavy sand and scattering bunch-grass. Traveling up the general direction of 

 a ravine, in a southeasterly course for about six miles, we made camp late at some 

 springs near the foot of a basaltic rock ridge. 



December 11. — Continued our route down the valley in a southerly direction. Walk- 

 er's trail of two years ago passed to the left of our camp three or four miles. Passed 

 several w r ells dug by the Indians, but they were dry. Also, a large corral or pen made 

 of sage and cedars for the purpose of ensnaring deer. Continued about six miles into 

 the mountains by a rough and broken road Were unable to find water. In the even- 

 ing we encamped among some of the largest sage I have ever seen. This gave us an 

 abundance of fuel, and also served us in constructing pens about our different camp- 

 fires as a protection from the cold. We soon forgot in slumber our lack of water 

 Here we killed our last beef, if what was left of the animal could be dignified by such 

 a name. 



December 12. — To-day we obtained a fine view of the great Sierra Nevada from the 

 far north till it faded on the distant horizon far to the south of us. This bold and r. u-ky 

 barrier, with its rugged peaks, separates us from the valley of California. We are to 

 travel along its base till by its lessening height it will offer but a slight obstacle to our 

 passage across it. To the southeast and east of us mountain rises beyond mountain 

 as far as the eye can see. Descending by a break-neck road w^e reached, toward 

 evening, a small valley, where we made camp. We found a portion of the sand lev- 

 eled very smooth and some willow hoops lying about, with fresh signs to convince us 

 that the place had not long been vacated by a party of Indians. 



December 13. — Still among the burnt rock hills, interspersed with grassy valleys. 

 Descending into a large, open, grassy valley, we fed upon the dry bed of a stream that 

 has both w r ood and water six or seven miles farther up. Camped at a large spring that 

 spreads into a marsh. 



December 14. — Traveled down the same valley. Water rises and sinks, breaking 

 through a rocky ridge to the east ; rising again in several cold springs at the entrance 

 of the gap, runs a short distance and forms a stinking lake. Crossing the ridge by an 

 Indian trail, we came into another valley watered by a fine warm stream, in which I 

 took a delightful bath. Good grass and plenty — quite a treat for our tired animals. 



