34 EEPOET UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 



taut, and changed our course toward it. When we had reached the 

 place where we supposed the lake to be, having caught but a single 

 glimpse of it, we again found a sterile white plain. A short ride, how- 

 ever, brought us upon a small rise of ground, and before us lay a large 

 lake with innumerable ducks and geese. We had again reached the 

 vicinity of the " sand-belt." Riding through sand and soil where the 

 mvdes sank hi to their knees at every step, we approached the edge of 

 the water. A sudden sinking of our animals from under us, gave timely 

 warning; we had reached a bed of quicksand. Retreating from that 

 spot, we tried to get to the water at a number of places along the shore. 

 Not only were our animals unable to get within twenty feet, but it was a 

 disagreeable undertaking for men to reach the edge. Sinking into the 

 sand, sometimes up to our knees, we finally succeeded in our efforts to 

 obtain water. By filling our hats we attempted to take some of it to 

 the mules, but the wear and tear of three months had somewhat injured 

 these useful covers, and the water ran out as fast as it was dipped in. 

 On the bluffs close by were a number of antelopes, gazing wistfully down 

 at the water. From tracks they had m ade but a short time before we found 

 that they too had approached the water's edge within twelve or fifteen feet 

 at a number of places, but were forced to abandon the attempt of reaching 

 it on account of the quicksands. Nothing remained for us but to do the 

 same; we could not get our mules near enough to let them drink. Hav- 

 ing remounted we proposed to try the other shore. While riding over to 

 it we saw camp a short distance off, at another smaller lake. Although 

 this one was not very accessible either, the animals obtained water from 

 a smaU pond close by, after having been for thirty-six hours without it. 



Immediately north of this lake we found a very interesting occurrence. 

 A large number of mud-springs, several hundreds of them, occupied the 

 slightly rising ground. Mounds shaped like beehives, from 2 to 15 feet 

 in height, covered an area about a mile long and half a mile wide. At 

 the tops of most of these mounds we observed circular openings filled 

 with ice-cold water. This water held a large amount of mud in suspen- 

 sion, so that it attained the consistency of thin chocolate. It was not 

 entirely safe to walk or ride over this ground, as many of the mud- 

 springs were hidden by a superficial level layer of sandy mud. One of 

 our party discovered this fact to the distress of his mule and himself. 

 In the geological report a more complete discussion of the mud-springs 

 will be found. Scattered in profusion over the ground were the bleach- 

 ing bones of various annuals. Buffalo, elk, deer, antelope, coyotes, and 

 even smaller animals had fallen victims to the treacherous soil upon 

 which they trod. We had no sufficiently reliable means of determining 

 the depths of the cylindrical tubes containing the columns of mud-water j 

 but from some trials we made we found them to extend downward for 

 more than 10 feet in a number of instances. The temptation to obtain 

 water iu so dry a section of country must necessarily lead many animals 

 to this region. Not knowing or appreciating the dangerous character of 

 the soil upon which they step, many of them are engulfed, and their 

 bones are eventually brought forth to the surface either by erosion or 

 by the action of the water constituting the springs. Altogether the local- 

 ity makes the impression of a huge grave-yard, in which the mounds are 

 monuments erected to the innocent creatures that here have found an 

 untimely end. 



From the evidences we observed in the vicinity of these lakes we con- 

 cluded that they must have been largely frequented by Indians hi former 

 times. Behind small hills of sand and at other sheltered places were 

 innumerable chips of flint, chalcedony, and some obsidian, which were 



