(ae Og - iva! yy 
the bed of a ae salt lake, or marsh, very firm and bare, which was covered 
thickly with a fine white powder, containing a large quantity of carbonate: 
of soda, (thirty-three in one hundre 
The old grass had been lately burnt off from the surrounding ills: — 
wherever ihe fire had passed, there was a recent growth of 
and vigorous grass ; and the soil of the level prairie, which sweeps “ireetly 
up to the foot of the surrounding mountains, appears to be very om pro- 
ducing flax spontaneously and luxuriantly in various places. ri 
Analysis of the Grand Rond soil. 
¥ 
— - er - ae See - - «, 90.8% 
Alum - - - . - - 10.97 
Lime £08. magnesia Be Pe - - - . 1.38 
Oxide of ir “ - = +o RE. 
Vegetable cadia thot, , partly decomposed - - - a2) BRO: 
WwW loss - - - - 5.46 
rook of lime “eee + % - - : - ee F 
* . : é x5 100.00 ®s 
: ——— 
The elevation of this encampment is 2,940 feet oveatin 
October 18.—It began to rain an hour before sunrise, and continaed intl, 
10 o’clock ; the sky entirely overcast, and the temperaturea ‘at su 
We resumed our journey somewhat later than usual, ‘travelling pina 
nearly north direction across this beautiful valley ; and about,noon re 
a place on one of the principal streams, where I had determined to leave 
the emigrant trail, in the expectation of finding a more direct and better 
read across the Blue mountains. At this place the emigrants | appeared to 
have held some consultation as to — route, and i—_— turned . 
directly off to the left; reaching the foot of the about 
miles, which they ascended by a hill as steep and 4if sale, ‘hate d 
wediad: yesterday descended tothe Rond. Quitting, therefore, | 
a very rough crossing, issues from the mountains ins byt 
Umatilah oo we continued our northern course | the valley, . 
ng an trail which had fos indicated to me “4 Mr. Payette,» 
fsinped at thé northern extremity of the Grand Rond, ona slough- 
like stream of very deep water, without any apparent current. , There are 
some pines here on the low hills at the creek ; and in the northwest corner _ 
of the Rond isa very heavy body of timber, which descends into the plain. 
The clouds, which had rested very low along the mountain sides during 
the day, rose gradually up in the afternoon; ;-and in the evening the sky 
was almost entirely clear, with a temperature at sunset of 47°- Some. in- 
a. ~raghte oe bipced the camp in longitude 117° 28' 26" » latitudes. 
45° 26 evation was 2,600 feet above the sea #1 : 
Octbber 19, se The | ator the mountains were hidden by fog; therey 
is avuheavy dew during the feo in which the exposed thermometer at 
, an at sunrise iperat 5° 3 
