GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE REGIONS EXAMINED. 
27 
through a broad cafion. The trail, which is a little rocky, follows its course, crossing it about 
a dozen times. In about 20 miles, the canon widens out into a valley, varying from 3 to 12 
miles in width, which extends to the vicinity of Goose lake. In some places, travelling is 
rendered laborious by cracks in the soil, which is very light and dusty, hut the road is generally 
good. The region is not fertile, and grass is mostly confined to the hanks of the river. 
The party discovered a boiling spring about 6 miles above the upper end of the wide canon, 
and at some little distance from the river, on its western hank. The basin was about twelve feet 
wide, and in the middle a jet three feet in diameter boiled up six inches above the general level. 
No gas escaped, but a slight smell of sulphur was perceptible. A column of vapor, thirty feet in 
height, ascended from the spring. Its waters were impregnated with salts, but no deposit was 
observed. 
Near Goose lake, Pit river rises from springs in the hills, and does not issue from the lake, 
as has sometimes been supposed. Much obsidian is found near its sources. 
While exploring the mountains in this vicinity, Captain Warner and others of the party 
were massacred by the Indians, and the survey terminated abruptly ia consequence. 
The portion of Pit river lying between Camp 23 and the mouth of Canoe creek, was examined 
on the recent survey. The whole region is volcanic in its character, and descends by successive 
plateaus towards the western chain of the Sierra Nevada. Each of the two great canons is 
situated near the edge of one of these plateaus, and the descent of the stream is, consequently, 
very much greater in them than elsewhere in its course. From the summit of Stoneman’s ridge, 
this peculiar terraced formation of the country can be very distinctly perceived. The descent 
of the tributaries, both from the north and the south, is very rapid. 
Much of the region south of Pit river, lying at the eastern base of the western chain of the 
Sierra Nevada, consists of a rocky pedregal of scoriaceous trap, and Lieut. Williamson, who, 
in 1851, explored the country immediately south-east of Shasta Butte, found the same formation 
there. It is no uncommon thing in this region, for large streams to sink among fissures in the 
rocks, and for others to burst from the faces of precipitous ledges. Infusorial marls are com¬ 
mon near Pit river. 
Although there are a few fertile spots near the banks of the streams, the valley is generally 
barren, parched with drought during the summer, and unfit to support a civilized population. 
Below the mouth of Canoe creek, Pit river forces its way through the western chain of the 
Sierra Nevada. Lieut. E. G. Beckwith, 3d artillery, surveyed this portion of its course in 
1854, and he reports that the stream flows with a winding course among heavily timbered 
mountains, which rise abruptly to heights varying from 1,500 to 2,000 feet above the water 
surface. 
PLATEAU BETWEEN PIT RIVER AND THE DES CHUTES VALLEY. 
After leaving Pit river and before reaching the Des Chutes valley, our course lay over a 
plateau bordering the eastern base of the Cascade Range. There are occasional low mountain¬ 
ous ridges upon it, but the general surface, for about 150 miles, retains an elevation above the 
sea varying but little from 4,500 feet. 
Most of the region is sterile, although occasional fertile spots are found. Pumice-stone, trap 
rock, and other volcanic products, strew the ground ; and pine forests or sage plains cover the 
whole face of the country. The banks of the streams, however, are generally bordered with 
grass of good quality, and we experienced no difficulty in obtaining a sufficient supply for our 
large train of animals. 
