water i» uiM'*”-' , middle part of the State, it has an extreme 
.-.inewliat t4> .rmLt width being not more than eight 
length arc’ alkdine, it has, nevertheless, fresh water pass- 
r,','inta it fn,M, Silver C„fk over .. ewampy delta near ita northwestern extrennty, 
and a anmll. clear atreum of pure water also enters it from die westward. 
\l*.rt'a Lake. coiiHiderubly larger than Silver Lake, is found some fort>-five 
...ih^'tothe ^mthward and eastward of it, while at various distances from the 
latter and in .livers direetmiis in the same region are to he found similai ones, 
all agn..i»g nant. or less with them in their character. Fossil Lake is more in the 
<)n.p.n.Ls<Tt regi..ii,and is about forty miles east of Silver Luke, and is a lake 
now only In name, for its former waters have long since dried up. By digging, 
However' water may yet lie obtained at a depth of two or three feet from the sur- 
faw of the grouiul, or whut was formerly the bottom of the lake. Tlie surrounding 
country is civered with “sagebrush”, and presents the usual topography of the 
west.-rn desert r<*gi«»n. Hut Silver Lake islxmnded on the west and east by precip 
iums Imsnltic bliifl’s, wliicli, on the south, present their dip edges to the lake, the 
gmiernl strik.* Indug north ami south. Cope has further said that “on the north 
side this lake is Uainded by a range of low hills, terminating in a bold Hat-topped 
butte to the east, which is coiiiikisimI of volcanic mud more or less irregularly strati- 
fusl, A low shore and plain separate this range from the eastern bluffs, and at this 
|Miinl ovcril.iw from the lake nuiches a low tract to the eastward, which, when it con- 
tains water, is known ns Thorne’s Lake. It was dry at the time of my visit (1879)”. 
“t>n climbing the bluff wbicii iMnnids the lake on the west, the observer .stands 
on I lie «slge of a plain which extends to the foot of the ancient volcano which I 
INisMsI (III the way to the lake. It is here seen to form but a single mountain with 
its foolliills, forming a line north and south. It occiniies the position of the so-called 
“ inter Hangi> ” of the V. S. War Department maps ; but it is rather entitled to be 
calhsl \\ inter Mountain than a “ range ”. Its summit is bold, but had no snow on 
it at the time of niy visit. Its sIojhis are thickly clothed with forest jiine {Pimis 
fHfMdtrosaW 
“Fniiii the snnunit of the bluffs on the east, the eye ranges over the Sage- 
brush desert of Central On*gon. Its surface is diversified by hills and bluffs, which 
have generally one s1o|k*, and one pivcipitous side runuing generally north and 
wHith. The surface was everywhere dotted wdtli the ubiquitous Sage-brush 
(.'/r/m/xMl with lieivaiid theiv a generally distorted cedar iymiipcrtis). This 
s^Mie extend,.! as far as the eye could reach, being bounded on the northeast by 
the long, low outline of the W agontire Mountain ”. 
M.«.t of the U‘st siH>cimens are found at Fossil Lake, and as I have already 
-i-tod by the cattlemen of ll.e 
•vncl.«...^ t|,.„ depnving science of them and their study. Professor 
KQUUS HKDS OF THE OREGON DESERT. 
• . I r .ind ill latitude 43° 05' N. and longitude 43° 25' W., being 
■■'r''.'''".’;''" I ,.f tl.e ...iddle part of the State. It has an e.vtreme 
