SCENES IN THE PACIFIC. 
313 
cific. An eventful journey-—through an unexplored country 
of untamed savages, which the Doctor’s scientific attainments 
and interesting style amply qualify him to detail to his coun- 
trymen in a manner that would for ever connect his name with 
the border literature of America. But to this task, I fear he 
can never be persuaded. 
My friend says that the elevation of the Sheetskadee Valley 
above Santa Fe, is 3000 feet; and that of the plain around 
the junction of this stream and Grand River, is about 2500 
feet. It is known from other sources that the valleys of 
Grand and Sheetskadee are elevated 8000 feet above the level 
of the ocean. So that we may take our point of departure 
from the place where the Doctor struck the Colorado, and 
gain a pretty clear idea of the inclination of that eastern por¬ 
tion of the Californias. As for example, the linear distance 
from the mouth of the Sheetskadee to the outlet of the Colora¬ 
do into the Gulf of California, is about 700 miles. The Colo¬ 
rado then falls 8000 feet while running that distance; and 
the bordering country dips in the same ratio. The Great Salt 
Lake, Timpanigos, also lies at an elevation of 8000 feet above 
the sea ; and the western declination of the country from this 
lake and the Sheetskadee, though somewhat broken by moun¬ 
tains, is still greater during the first 300 miles; and the result 
which we should expect, is in accordance with fact, viz. that 
streams run off from the neighborhood of the Colorado, in a 
northwesterly, and from that of the Great Salt Lake, in 
a westerly, direction, forming lakes without any visible 
outlet, or sinking in the sands of that desolate waste. 
Doctor Lyman writes me the following graphic account of 
these regions. 
“ The traveller journeying northward, after leaving Santa 
Fe (Lat. 26° N.), passes, for the space of 300 miles, alternate 
ranges of mountains, separated by valleys of greater or less 
width, some exceedingly fertile, and others very barren. At 
times, consequently, he finds abundance of fine grass and pure 
water for his animals ; and at others so desolate and parched 
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