156     BORAX  LAKE  AND  SULPHUR  BANKS  IN  CALIFORNIA. 
whose  peak  is  one  of  the  loftiest  of  the  coast  range,  having  an 
altitude  of  three  thousand  six  hundred  feet,  has  been  pressed  by 
the  feet  of  the  illustrious  Humboldt,  who  left  a  monumental  in- 
scription there  which  some  barbarian — not  a  Digger  Indian — 
has  removed. 
VALUABLE  SPRINGS. 
The  most  remarkable  feature  of  the  country  in  Cayote  Valley 
is  a  hill  of  ochre,  through  which  a  creek  makes  its  way.  On 
arriving  at  Lower  (Clear)  Lake  there  was  a  sufficient  time  for  a 
visit  to  Sigler's  Springs,  which  lie  seven  miles  distant  on  the 
same  mountains  as  the  geysers,  though  on  the  opposite  or  west- 
ern side.  The  picturesque  and  secluded  valley  in  which  these, 
the  most  valuable  of  the  springs  of  California,  are  found,  has  the 
advantage  of  being  well  watered,  and,  unlike  any  other  portion 
of  the  State,  is  in  perpetual  verdure.  Besides  a  natural  foun- 
tain, whose  waters  cannot  be  distinguished  from  Congress  water, 
there  are  hot  sulphur  and  ferruginous  baths  supplied  by  springs 
whose  suppl j  is  illimitable.  A  rude  edifice,  serving  as  a  rudi- 
mentary hotel,  has  been  erected  by  the  proprietor,  who  personi- 
fies Galen  and  Boniface,  and  very  well  too,  all  things  considered. 
Mounds  of  tuifa,  enormous  masses  of  trachyte  and  serpentine, 
with  veins  of  cinnabar,  in  this  hitherto  unexplored  valley,  invite 
a  visit  from  geologists.  Were  this  place  not  so  difficult  of  access, 
it  would  be  thronged  with  visitors  from  all  parts  of  the  Pacific 
States. 
BORAX  LAKE. 
Returning  to  the  lower  part  of  Clear  Lake — a  magnificent 
sheet  of  water  twenty  miles  long  and  from  two  to  ten  in  breadth 
— we  resumed  our  journey  to  its  objective  point,  Borax  Lake  ; 
not,  however,  until  we  had  first  seen  evidence  of  the  volcanic 
character  of  the  country  by  traversing  hills  covered  with  obsidi- 
an, and  by  having  a  glance  at  springs  from  which  carburetted 
hydrogen  issues  in  quantities  sufficient  for  illuminating  purposes, 
if  wanted. 
Borax  Lake  is  about  one  hundred  miles  north  of  San  Fran- 
cisco. Properly  speaking,  it  is  a  pond,  being  only  one  mile  long 
and  half  a  mile  wide.  It  is  situated  on  a  peninsula  which  juts 
into  Clear  Lake,  from  which  it  is  separated  by  a  mountain.  It 
