MOUTH OF THE COLORADO-——ATMOSPHERIC PHENOMENA. 29 
be the tide following the full of the moon, there will probably be water enough to accomplish 
our object. Owing to our sheltered position the flow of the ebb about the vessel this evening 
has been quite moderate. 
December 2.—The flood came in last night with a violence even greater than that of that 
preceding. The Monterey, though moored in a place comparatively unexposed, dragged her 
anchors and was carried a mile up the river; but as high water approached lines were taken 
out, the necessary preparations made, and, by great exertions on the part of the men, she 
was floated into position at the head of the gully. This morning, after the water had fallen, 
she lay snugly encased between the grassy banks, twenty feet above the surface of the river, 
secure from the effects of tides and storms, but presenting a very odd appearance, and inspiring 
Captain Walsh with apprehensions lest there should never be another tide that would rise 
high enough to float her out. 
The whole surface of the country was overflowed last night, and the soil, being almost 
entirely clay, presents an unbroken — of soft and tenacious mud, into which one sinks 
deeply at every step. 
The day has been spent in landing the boiler and heavy portions of the steamboat, and it 
proved a task of no small difficulty to move these unwieldy masses through the saturated 
surface. As the new moon tides at this season are not so high as those of the full moon, it is 
not probable that the bank will be again overflowed for a month, and a week’s exposure to 
the warm sun will improve its condition, but a more unpromising place to build a steamboat 
in could scarcely be imagined. There is no growth of any description. Scattered about in 
the mud, one or two miles distant, are logs of half decayed driftwood, and from these we have 
to select the material for building the ways and derricks and to furnish fuel for the camp fires. 
Some of the men have already commenced this work, and with two or three harnessed toa 
log and sinking knee deep at almost every step, each stick is hauled through a mile and a half 
of gulleys and mud into camp. 
To-day Mr. Booker, one of my assistants, came down in a skiff from Fort Yuma, bringing 
with him our letters and papers. He had left the fort on the 29th and had expected to join 
us on the ebb of last night, but was caught by the flood before he could reach our position 
and came near being swamped by the ‘‘bore,’’ having been barely able to run his boat ashore in 
time to escape. He reports the safe arrival at Fort Yuma of the party from San Diego. 
December 4.—During the last two days the vessel has been unloaded and all of the expedition 
property discharged. Many things had been injured by salt water getting into the hold, but 
the essential parts of the steamboat, engine, and the provisions are safe. The unloading being 
completed, Captain Walsh kindly gave me permission to engage his crew to assist my own 
small force, for a few days, while accomplishing the heavy labor attending our first operations, 
and the arduous task of bringing a suflicient quantity of logs is almost completed. The drying 
of the soil proceeds very slowly, but as the bank has not been again overflowed the tents have 
been pitched, the provisions and stores securely stowed, and camp fairly established. A spot 
has been trenched and platformed and prepared with a suitable foundation for a temporary 
observatory; the observing tent erected and a transit placed approximately in position. 
Regular astronomical and saietcceben seal observations will henceforward be made and a record 
kept of the tides, gauges having been put up for that purpose. The tides are now rapidly 
subsiding and the water runs with greatly diminished velocity. 
The days continue warm and delightful, though at night the temperature is low, and a chill 
wind sometimes sweeps over the wet flats, making the air disagreeable and raw. The atmo- 
spheric changes impart variety to a scene that would otherwise be oppressively monotonous. 
At sunrise the atmosphere is singularly peliucid, and every point on the surface of the water 
and the land sparkles with light. The distant peaks, that but for the mirage would be scarcely 
visible, stand out in bold relief above the horizon in curiously elongated shapes, the ever- 
