CEDAR MOUNTAIN.—THE DESERT. 
23 
from the indurated shale and dark-blue limestone, overlaid by igneous rocks, of which the 
mountain is composed, and is much purer than that at our morning camp, which did not 
afford a supply at all adequate to our wants. The Indians say, however, that when the sun is 
hot, (mid-summer,) there is no water in this pass. It is not suitable for a railway. Like 
many of the mountain ranges in the Basin, this terminates in the plain to the south, and 
can be passed around by a long circuit. It was late when we extricated ourselves from this 
pass and encamped, having accomplished the short march of only 3.68 miles. The day 
throughout was dark and cloudy, and at night camp-fires were necessary to comfort, fuel being 
abundantly supplied by sage. 
May 12.—We mounted our Indian guides on mules to-day, and furnished them with scarlet 
cloth for blankets, greatly to their delight—a merrier set of thieves seldom being seen. The 
morning was dark and cloudy, and a slight rain which fell during last night had moistened 
the light friable soil of the hills, making our early ride cool and pleasant. Leaving the 
base of the mountain, (2.43 miles from camp,) we crossed a field of heavy sand, and a few spaces 
of hard, barren white clay, succeeded by another field of sand, and then entered upon a soft, 
moist bed of clay or stiff mud, more or less miry at short intervals for nine miles, in which our 
riding-animals sank to the top of their hoofs, and occasionally to their fetlocks, and over 
which our loaded wagons dragged heavily. Eleven miles from the base of the mountain, how¬ 
ever, brought us to an extensive field of small artemisia, extending far to the right and left, 
and sweeping quite up to the base of Granite mountain, which we were approaching at its 
northern termination. In this field the soil was light but dry, and the travelling fine ; and we 
encamped at the point just spoken of, where we found a fine permanent spring of pure cold 
water issuing in abundance from the granite rocks in the bed of the ravine three-fourths of a 
mile above our path ; but we were not so fortunate in regard to grass, only a few scattered 
bunches beingffound on this part of the mountain, which is a large isolated mass of granitic rocks, 
rising from the desert in which it stands, like an island from the ocean, to an elevation of 2,000 
feet. Its general appearance is that of whitish naked rock, with a few small cedar-bushes in 
its narrow ravines. It disintegrates considerably, and forms the surrounding soil, which is 
filled with quartz and mica. Day’s march, 19.16 miles ; altitude of camp, (considerably above 
the plain) 4,666 feet above the sea. 
May 13.—We resumed our journey at 5 o’clock a. m., directly across the desert, (which 
is that crossed by-Stansbury, further to the north, where it is 70 miles wide, to which I have 
before referred,) south 45° west, (magnetic,) to the nearest point of the Goshoot mountains, 
which derive their name from the Indian band inhabiting them, although the name might better 
have been applied to the desert, which is characteristic of their utter wretchedness. Five miles 
from Granite mountain, we left the dry soil on which we terminated our march last evening, 
and passing over a narrow ridge of sand, entered upon a desert of stiff mud, as level as a sheet 
of water, which we found great difficulty in crossing with our wagons for 17.66 miles. For 
this entire distance there is not a sign of green vegetation, and only here and there a dry stalk 
of artemisia, where it has been transported by the wind. The lightest sheet of effloresced salt 
covered the moist earth at intervals, and the track of a single antelope or wolf could be seen 
crossing the desert for miles, by the line of dark mud thrown up by its feet, so level, white 
and soft was the plain ; and the whole scene was as barren, desolate, and dreary as can be 
imagined. Fortunately the sun was partially obscured during most of the day; but even with 
the obscurity its reflection was very painful to the eyes, which were materially relieved, how¬ 
ever, by one or two light passing showers, which dissolved the salt upon the plain, but greatly 
enhanced the fatigue and labor of crossing it. These storms, however, which had been hang¬ 
ing about the high peaks of the mountains all day, accompanied by thunder, increased in 
number and violence in the plain as we approachefi. camp, and were accompanied by heavy 
squalls of wind from the southwest, and we were brought to a stand by a hail-storm, to which 
our animals turned their backs and obstinately refused to move until it had passed. Every 
