SPRING VALLEY. 117 



tended northward to the southern shore of the Great Salt Lake, 

 and was covered with grass, the first we had seen since leaving Pilot 

 Peak. It was shut in toward the south by a range of comparatively 

 low hills, connecting the two mountain ranges that formed its 

 eastern and western boundaries. A direct course could not be 

 taken for this point, owing to numerous springs, which rendered 

 the valley in that direction marshy and wholly impassable. We 

 were consequently forced many miles to the southward, and obliged 

 to make a circuit of more than a semicircle to gain the opposite 

 side. We followed down the western base of the mountain for two 

 or three miles, passing a fine spring, with good grass, near which we 

 encamped for the night, among some dwarf cedars, that both fur- 

 nished us with fuel and afibrded a protection against the wind, 

 which blew fresh and cold from the north-west. Ther. at sunset, 43°. 



Tuesday, November 6. — Ther. at sunrise, 30°. Continued our 

 journey in a northerly direction, along the western base of the 

 mountain, for twelve miles, when we reached its northern ex- 

 tremity, which was about a mile and a-half wide, and terminated 

 in bold escarpments five or six hundred feet high. One of these 

 resembled, in a remarkable manner, a huge castle, the vertical walls 

 of which were not less than three hundred feet in height. 



Before reaching this point of the mountains, I remarked, on our 

 left, in the middle of the valley, a curious, isolated mass of rocks, 

 resembling a small fortification or redoubt : it was surrounded by 

 marshy meadow-land, and could, in case of need, be defended by a 

 small force against almost any number of Indians. Numerous 

 springs broke out from the mountain and at the edge of the prairie ; 

 but they were all saline, with a temperature of 74°, and totally 

 unfit to drink. To this place we gave the name of " Spring Val- 

 ley." Near the point of the mountain was a very large spring, 

 which discharged its waters northward into the lake. The water 

 was very salt, nauseous, and bitter, with a temperature of 70° ; 

 notwithstanding which it swarmed with innumerable small fish, and 

 seemed to be a favourite resort for pelicans and gulls. 



In a shallow ravine near our morning camp, limestone was found 

 cropping out, with a dip of 80° to the north-west. This rock was 

 seen as we followed the range, appearing at the spurs ; and dikes of 

 trap were observed, forming peaks farther back up the mountain- 

 side. The ridge gradually became less elevated as we proceeded 

 toward the point, where the stratified rocks (limestone and shales) 

 were found in a horizontal position. Along the northern termina- 



