202 CAVE AT strong's KNOB — UTAH DIGGER. 



under the influence of the northern blast, rose upon the beacli 

 crossed by the line a few days since so as to extend some six or 

 seven miles to the south of it ; but this morning it had returned to 

 its old boundaries, upon the subsidence of the gale. 



The rock composing Strong's Knob is almost entirely block 

 limestone, very hard and close-grained, veined with spar, and very 

 brittle. Tufa occurs near the base of the hill in large masses, 

 several feet thick, some of which, having formed around large rocks, 

 upon which it had deposited itself, had been precipitated with them 

 from the cliffs above. In other cases, it has formed around the 

 masses after they had fallen, encasing them completely with a 

 shell, frequently two feet thick, and had filled up large interstices 

 between them. Frequently the rock itself has disappeared, leav- 

 ing the tufa behind, somewhat like a hollow mould after the cast- 

 ing has been removed. At the north-west end of the peninsula is 

 an outcrop of compact sandstone and millstone grit, fifty feet 

 thick, capped by black fossiliferoua limestone, slightly inclined. 

 All attempts at taking angles from the station to-day were render- 

 ed abortive by the haze which filled the atmosphere and obscured 

 and concealed every distant object. In ascending the mountain, 

 quite a large cave was accidently discovered in the hillside, pene- 

 trating about sixty feet, with a width of twenty-five feet and 

 height of ten. It had been the resort of deer and antelope. The 

 rock is black and gray limestone, ■ with some calcareous conglome- 

 rate. 



Wednesday^ June 12. — Moved camp about five miles to the 

 southward. The ridge continues parallel with the shore, and de- 

 scends by a gentle slope nearly to the water. The shore is rocky 

 with scarcely any sand-flat. 



As we were rowing along the shore, we espied an old Indian, 

 with his squaw and papoose, running down the mountain to hail 

 us. We landed, to inquire of him as to the prospect for water 

 ahead of us ; but he could give us no information on this subject. 

 He was a Utah digger, and proved to be the same old fellow who 

 haS come to us last autumn, in Spring Valley, and who had en- 

 gaged to bring in a ^'give-out" mule which we had left behind, for 

 the promised reward of a new blanket. I questioned him about 

 the mule, but he only laughed and would give me no satisfaction. 

 The poor donkey had doubtless furnished his lodge with meat for 

 the winter. He was an old man, nearly sixty, quite naked, ex- 

 cept an old breech-cloth and a tattered pair of moccasins. His wife 



