52 FORT YUMA TO MOJAVE CANON—NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS. 
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hil aah a ila ee 
as they best can over the limited accommodations afforded by the wood piles on either side of 
the boiler. What little space is left abaft the boiler, when the luggage is all aboard, is taken 
up by the fireman and by Mr. Carroll. The latter is incessantly occupied in responding to the 
hails of the pilot from the deck overhead to go slower or faster, or to stop, or to back, or to eo 
ahead, and thinks the Colorado the queerest river to run a steamboat upon that he has ever met 
with in his experience as an engineer. 
Fig. 7.—Light-house Rock. 
Very few Indians have been seen. In the rough and mountainous region that we have 
traversed they were not likely to be encountered, their villages being confined altogether to 
the alluvial bottoms. In the valley which we have now entered they will doubtless reappear. 
Every form of vitality is rare. The scarcity of vegetation has been alluded to; of fish, but a 
single one—and that a poor variety—has been caught; and game is seldom met with. An 
occasional flock of ducks or geese is observed flying past, and this morning a dozen mountain 
sheep (‘‘ big horns’’) were seen scampering over a gravel hill near Light-house Rock, but not 
within shot from the bank of the river. . 
At this time of year few reptiles and insects are about; and Mr. Mollhausen finds it hard to 
make additions to his zoological collections. Dr. Newberry, who is now quite restored to 
health, has found a more productive field of labor. The mineral wealth of the country some- 
what atones for its animal and vegetable poverty, and in a geological point of view possesses a 
high degree of interest. The steamboat affords facilities for transportation not ordinarily 
enjoyed by exploring parties nor scientific collectors, and the doctor has already laid in a large 
assortment of specimens. The mountains passed to-day—Chimney Peak, the Spires, and the 
Chocolate range—have exhibited a rare diversity of outline, colors, and tints; and the bril- 
liancy of the atmosphere heightens the effect of every shade and line. 
EERE, Sy Oo ee La Peg ae cr eRe acoe a TNR 
The weather, since 
