160 FREMONT ISLAND. 



adventurous explorer of this distant region to name it after him 

 who first set foot upon its shores, and have therefore called it 

 Fremont Island. While putting up the station here, search was 

 made for the cover to the object end of his telescope, which he 

 states he had left on the summit of the island, but it could not be 

 found, having probably been buried in the detritus of the rapidly 

 decomposing rock upon which it had been left. 



The island is fourteen miles in circumference, has neither tim- 

 ber nor water upon it, but its sides are covered with luxuriant 

 grass, and abound in prodigious quantities of the wild onion, wild 

 parsnip, and sego, (Calochortus luteus.) The latter is a small 

 bulbous root, about the size of a walnut, very palatable and 

 nutritious, and is much used by the Indian tribes as an article of 

 food. It abounds on hillsides and in stony ground in great 

 quantities. Near the summit of the island, the sage {Sarcobatus 

 vermicularis, nees,) grew in great profusion, and to an extraordi- 

 nary size, being frequently eight feet high and six or eight inches 

 in diameter. Could fresh water be obtained by boring, (and it is 

 worth the experiment,) a more admirable range than this for 

 sheep and goats could not be desired. Being surrounded by deep 

 water, the protection from wild beasts is absolute; an object in 

 this country of no small importance, where wolves abound in great 

 numbers. The wild parsnip is already up several inches, and its 

 vivid green presents a cheerful contrast on the sunny slopes with 

 the snow-clad mountains which surround us. A single ground- 

 squirrel was seen ; but how he got here, and where he obtained 

 water to sustain life, is somewhat of a mystery. In all our sub- 

 sequent examinations not the least indication of a spring was dis- 

 covered. Our men picked up quite a number of the eggs of the 

 blue heron, now just beginning to lay, in the tall grass along the 

 shore. 



In approaching the island from the water, it presented the ap- 

 pearance of regular beaches, bounded by what seemed to have 

 been well-defined and perfectly horizontal water-lines, at difi'erent 

 heights above each other, as if the water had settled at intervals 

 to a lower level, leaving the marks of its former elevation dis- 

 tinctly traced upon the hillside. This continued nearly to the 

 summit, and was most apparent on the north-eastern side of the 

 island. 



On our return to camp, we spread our sails merrily to the breeze, 

 and although our boat was heavy and by no means a clipper, yet 



