Sept. 1833. 



SIERRA VENTANA. 



127 



points. This valley is very narrow, but flatbottomed, and it 

 forms a fine horse-pass for the Indians, as it connects the 

 plains on the northern and southern sides of the range. Hav- 

 ing descended, and while crossing it, I saw two horses grazing : 

 I immediately hid myself in the long grass, and began to re- 

 connoitre ; but as I could see no signs of Indians, I pro- 

 ceeded cautiously on my second ascent. It was late in the 

 day, and this part of the mountain, like the other, was steep 

 and rugged. I was on the top of the second peak by two 

 o^clock, but got there with extreme difficulty ; every twenty 

 yards I had the cramp in the upper part of both thighs, so 

 that I was afraid I should not have been able to have de- 

 scended. It was also necessary to return by another road, 

 as it was out of the question to pass over the saddle-back. I 

 was therefore obliged to give up the two higher peaks. 

 Their altitude was but little greater, and every purpose of 

 geology had been answered ; so that the attempt was not 

 worth the hazard of any further exertion. I presume the 

 cause of the cramp was the great change in the kind of 

 muscular action, from that of hard riding to that of still 

 harder climbing. It is a lesson worth remembering, as in 

 some cases it might cause much difficulty. 



I have already said the mountain is composed of white 

 quartz rock, and with it a little glossy clay-slate is associated. 

 At the height of a few hundred feet above the plain, patches 

 of conglomerate adhered in several places to the solid rock. 

 They resembled in hardness, and in the nature of the cement, 

 the masses which may be seen daily forming on some coasts. 

 I do not doubt these pebbles were, in a similar manner, 

 aggregated, at a period when the great calcareous formation 

 was depositing beneath the surrounding sea. We may be- 

 lieve that the jagged and battered forms of the hard quartz 

 yet show the effects of the waves of an open ocean. 



I was, on the whole, disappointed with this ascent. Even 

 the view was insignificant ; — a plain like the sea, but without 

 its beautiful colour and defined outline. The scene, how- 

 ever, was novel, and a little danger, like salt to meat, gives it 



