Miscellaneous Intelligence. 291 
nately got off the sand banks in a little while. Soon, a few sage bushes 
were encountered, and selecting the stoutest, the animals were fastened to 
await the coming of to-morrow. In attempting to make our beds, the 
burning temperature of the earth required the interposition of saddle- 
blankets and leathern covers of the saddles, and still it seemed like sub- 
mitting our limbs to the process of baking. The restlessness of the horses 
kept us in constant fear lest they might break the insecure fastenings and 
ave us in a rather unenviable predicament. It is useless to say the 
night was not passed in refreshing slumbers, and the dawn was never 
more welcome. 
“July 19.—At daylight it was found that we had wandered last night 
too far to the north, and had to turn to the south and east. The white 
clouds of steam, shooting upward from the Salse, soon became apparent 
_ atthe distance of ten miles. At sunrise the steam-jets presented an im- 
Posing and singular appearance; the cones from which they issued were 
distinetly visible, and the dull roar of the subterranean tumult could 
occasionally be heard. ‘The black butes that served as landmarks yester- 
day lay on either hand—that to the left less distant. It had the appear- 
nce of a mass of lava heaped into a rough and fantastically irregular 
i w 
ttle after 6 pv. m. reached a point as near the Salse as was deemed 
rudent on horseback. The ground had become soft and muddy, and 
. 
the sulphurous scents and strange sounds frightened the horses. Giving 
