Xyi BOTAlfY. 



West Humboldt Mountains, 100 miles east of the California state-line, the 

 East Humboldt Mountains, 75 miles from the Utah line, and the Toyabes, 

 nearly intermediate between the two. Star Peak is the highest point of the 

 first range, with an altitude of nearly 10,000 feet, but with little deposit of 

 snow and the vegetation of the summit scarcely subalpine. Several constant 

 streams here flow from the principal eastern canons and reach the middle of 

 the valley, where they supply irrigation for as many small ranches. The Toyabe 

 range, especially in its southern portion, is higher, several of its peaks having 

 an altitude of from 10,000 to 12,000 feet, with more snow and. fuller streams. 

 The waters of the eastern slope are spent in Smoky Valley. On the western 

 side Ues Reese River, flowing northward toward the Humboldt of which it 

 is a reputed tributary. In the upper portion of its course of 150 miles it is 

 reenforced to some extent by the drainage of the Shoshone Mountains, a 

 rather high range west of the Toyabes, but as it nears Humboldt Valley it 

 diverges into side-channels and seldom has volume suflBcient to reach the 

 main river itself. 



The East Hamboldt Mountains are by far the most stern and alpine of 

 all these ranges, the main peaks between 11,000 and 12,000 feet in height, 

 precipitous and ragged, the deeper canons evidently scooped out by glaciers, 

 gemmed with snow-fed lakes beneath the peaks and carrying full streams into 

 the valleys. The southern portion, however, below Fremont's Pass, is less 

 rugged and of different geological structure, mainly of nearly horizontal strata 

 of limestone. The canons here, often mere gorges with close precipitous walls, 

 are perfectly dry on the eastern slope, the melting snows sinking almost im- 

 mediately, but reappearing at the base in bold ice-cold springs. The water 

 from these springs and streams unites to form Ruby and Franklin Lakes, 

 bodies of nearly fresh water, very shallow and largely occupied by a dense 

 growth of " Tule," {Scirpus validus.) As usual in these ranges the western 

 slope is much the more gentle, with a broader line of foothills. The streams 

 upon this side form the South Fork of the Humboldt. The "Clover Mount- 

 ains" of the Catalogue form the northern extremity of this range, isolated by a 

 depression known as Secret Valley, but of equal height and similar character. 

 Such is a general description of the country as far east as the foot of 

 the Wahsatch in Utah. These mountains, upon a broad base of nearly fifty 

 miles in width, and with an irregular crest-line 10-12,000 feet high, have a 

 system of long deep well-watered canons, often exceedingly rocky and some- 



