[Wale |. 102 
three-quarters of a mile long and half a mile wide. The water had 
_ receded to a pool, diminished to one-half its size, and the approach 
to it was through a thick soapy quagmire. It was wholly unfit for 
man or brute, and we studiously kept the latter from it, thinking 
that the use of it would but aggravate their thirst. 
One or two of the men came in late and, rushing to the lake, 
threw themselves down and took many swallows before discovering 
their mistake; but the effect was not injurious except that it in- 
creased their thirst. 
At the point where we left the sand, sketches were taken of the 
objects by which our pilot wended his way; these may serve to. 
guide future travellers. From this point the traveller may go di- 
rectly to the gap exhibited in the sketch, nearly magnetic west, 
through which the trail passes. ; 
A few mezquite trees and a chenopodiaceous shrub bordered the 
lake, and on these our mules munched till they had sufficiently re- 
freshed themselves, when the call to saddle was sounded, and we 
OM tai ae Nabi our way in the dark. The stoutest animals now 
began to stagger, and when day dawned, scarcély a man was seen 
_ mounted. — ‘ 
_ With the sun rose a heavy fog frém the southwest, no doubt 
from the guif, and sweeping towards us, enveloped us for two or 
three hours, wetting our blankets and giving relief to the animals. 
Before it had dispersed we came to a patch of sun-bufned grass. 
~When the fog had entirely Wibod we found ourselves entering 
a gap in the mountains, which had been before us for four days. 
__ The plain was crossed, but we had not yet found water. The first 
valley we reached was dry, and it was not till 12 o’clock, m., that 
we struck the Cariso (cane) creek, within half a mile of one of 
- its sources, and although so close to the source, the sands had al- 
ready absorbed much of its wster, and left but little running. A 
mile or two below, the creek entirely disappears. 
We halted, having made fifty-four miles in the two days, at the . 
source, a magnificent spring, twenty or thirty feet in diameter, 
highly impregnated with sulphur, and medicinal in its properties. 
No vessel could be procured to bring home some of the water for 
_ coast chain of mountains which now encircles us, extending from 
