166 KOCK-GATE CAMP. 



the skijQf and dragged as far as possible, when the whole had to be 

 packed upon our shoulders and carried to the shore, a distance of 

 rather more than half a mile, through a black, tenacious, and fetid 

 ooze, which rendered wading an excessively fatiguing task. 



The camp was pitched in a wide rocky ravine, which had cut 

 entirely through the southern point of a low rocky peninsula, at 

 the foot of and parallel with the main promontory, and we gave 

 it the name of the "Rock Gate" camp. 



The formation here was a compact, massive, blue limestone, 

 thickly and irregularly marked with close seams. Numerous 

 brackish and sulphur springs percolate from beneath the foot of 

 the cliffs, forming a black oozy mud, which filled the air with its 

 nauseous odour. Water was found in small quantities at the foot 

 of the mountains to the westward, half a mile distant ; and wood 

 for cooking was furnished by the wild sage which grew in scattered 

 patches on the sides of the hills. 



Tuesday^ April 16. — The survey of Bear-River Bay had been 

 carried on by two parties ; that on the eastern side being under 

 the command of Lieutenant Gunnison. In the afternoon a violent 

 storm came up suddenly from the westward, accompanied by thun- 

 der, and a gale which instantly prostrated our little encampment. 

 A copious fall of rain, mingled with hail, wetted my party to the 

 skin before reaching camp. The damage was soon repaired, and 

 the tents repitched amid rain, hail, and snow. 



As the storm continued with unabated violence, I began to en- 

 tertain serious apprehensions for the other party, under Lieutenant 

 Gunnison, who were engaged on the flats on the eastern side of the 

 bay; lest, in the darkness, they should miss their way, and be 

 unable to return. At dusk a large signal-fire was built on the 

 hilltop, and guns were fired at intervals to attract their attention. 

 But the night passed without their appearing. 



Early the following morning they came into camp, covered from 

 head to foot with salt and mud, cold, wet, hungry, and thoroughly 

 exhausted. A more forlorn-looking group it has seldom been my 

 lot to behold. Anticipating their arrival in some such plight, I 

 had had an early breakfast prepared, with plenty of hot coffee ; after 

 partaking of which, they were immediately wrapped in blankets, 

 and a sound sleep restored them to their accustomed strength. 

 The following extract from the journal of Lieutenant Gunnison 

 will give an idea of what they endured in the course of the night. 

 The storm overtook them in the midst of the extensive mud-flats 



