128 MORMON ROAD. 
apparent gap in the low ridge south of the great Sierra.* The prairie looks dry, and the dis- 
tance from water to water is not known by any one attached to our party. Neither Savedra 
nor Leroux has traversed it. 
* The literal meaning of sierra is “ saw;” and hente, “ridge of mountains.” Any one who has seen the sharp serrated profiles 
of mountain chains in New Mexico and California, will understand the propriety of the term. 
