EASTERN SHORE OF THE LAKE. 213 



talitj of the region we were obliged to traverse, have made this 

 survey one of unusually arduous and protracted toil. But the 

 salubrity of the climate is such that, notwithstanding our constant 

 exposure to the vicissitudes of the elements, a large portion of the 

 time without the protection of tents, not a man was seriously un- 

 well, and most of the party were in the uninterrupted enjoyment 

 of robust health. 



The survey of the eastern side of the lake had, in the mean time, 

 been completed by the party under Lieutenant Gunnison. The 

 following extract from his report to me, will sufficiently exhibit the 

 character of this portion of the valley : — 



" To recapitulate and give the result of the field-notes. Two 

 lines have been located, the shore of the lake and base of the 

 hills, in order to give the flat occupied by the farmers. These 

 lines are determined by the three-point problem, as numerous 

 points of the triangulation ajBTorded facilities, and we had no boat 

 on the lake. 



" The land on the north of Bear-river Bay, ten miles wide to 

 the base of the hills, is a clay barren. Numerous springs issue 

 from the hills, which soon sink. They are all more or less brackish, 

 but seem to answer well for cattle. There is fine pasturage in the 

 high grounds. The clay-flat has numerous buttes about six feet 

 above the lower plain : these are islands left by the washing down of 

 the original level, and have nearly perpendicular sides. The lake 

 waters are driven by storms over the flat and wash off from the 

 buttes, which will soon disappear. Drift-wood is found some miles 

 from the present shore. Light carriages can be taken over the 

 flat near the Bear River outlet and along the shore : the shore in- 

 tervening, to the hills, is soft and impracticable. In the Salt Lake 

 Valley, on the Bear and Malade rivers, is some excellent soil for 

 grain. Fifty miles could be irrigated, but the expense would be 

 heavy in constructing a dam at the "gates" — that is, where Bear 

 River breaks through the Wahsatch range. The river at the ferry 

 was two hundred feet wide and twelve deep." 



" Near the river, and twelve miles below the '<■ gates," are the hot 

 and cold springs. They issue at the foot of the flanking terrace 

 of hills, and have excavated for themselves a circular hole, fifteen 

 feet deep, with sloping sides and a deep channel leading into the 

 meadow. There are currents issuing between different strata of 

 conglomerate and limestone, within a few feet of each other, of 

 which one is a hot sulphur, a second warm and salt, and the third 



