CA^ON OF THE SWEETWATER. 69 



it is found on the tops of the hills. The strata seemed perfectly 

 horizontal. At our nooning point yesterday, the carboniferous 

 rocks were found fising up at a considerable angle, but no section 

 was obtained. The only rock exposed was the red sandstone, 

 which had been rendered partially crystalline by the action of 

 heat. The surrounding rocks had not been disturbed. Some 

 beds of very coarse conglomerate were seen cropping out near the 

 river. 



In the course of the day, Captain Duncan, of the Rifles, who had 

 passed us at Bitter Creek on the 19th of July, in pursuit of de- 

 serters, came into camp, having followed his men to within fifty 

 miles of Fort Bridger. He had come upon them at daylight, while 

 they lay asleep, disarmed them, secured their horses, and was now 

 on his return, having taken also another man who had deserted 

 previously — so that he had five in all. The pursuit was one of 

 great hardship, privation, and fatigue, and the energy and perse- 

 verance with which it had been continued was the subject of admi- 

 ration with all. Encamped on the Sweetwater, at a point where 

 the road leaves it to avoid a canon above, which is impassable for 

 wagons for several miles. March, in the last two days, forty 

 miles. 



Saturday y August 4. — Morning clear and cool. Leaving the train 

 to follow the beaten track, which makes a short cut over the hills, 

 I determined to follow up the canon of the Sweetwater. The 

 stream, as I had anticipated, was shut up between lofty, rocky 

 eminences, coming down directly to the water at an angle of from 

 45° to 60°, along the sides of which we scrambled, sometimes 

 walking and leading our mules over crags where it was impossible 

 to ride, crossing and recrossing the stream ever and anon, to 

 enable our animals to get along at all. A short distance after 

 entering the canon, the red sandstone was found cropping out at 

 an angle of 45°, with a dip to the north ; and a little farther 

 on the crystalline rocks appeared, forming the sides of the 

 canon. The prevailing rock was gneiss ; but sienite and granite 

 were found in some places constituting the principal bulk of the 

 formation. A narrow bottom occasionally gave room for some 

 fine groves of large aspens, the sight of which, after our long 

 and dreary ride without a particle of shade, was truly refreshing. 

 The bed of the river was filled with large boulders and fragments 

 of rock which had fallen from the cliffs above, among which the 

 uaters foamed and fretted with a gurgling murmur, which, when 



