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Night overtaking them, they encamped, and were joined by the Indians, from the various lodges in the vicinity, among whom they distributed part of their supper. On tasting a stew of antelope flesh, highly seasoned with pepper, they made various ludicrous grimaces, and refused to eat it. Sugar however, delighted them exceedingly, and it was apparent that they had never before met with either of these articles. They noticed some of the Indian women searching for vermin, on the heads and bodies of their children, which on finding, they devoured with apparent relish.

Resuming their march on the morning of the 24th, they escaped from the valley where they had encamped, by a circuit of ten or twelve miles, striking another branch of the Weber, but on following this a short distance they found themselves again stopped by perpendicular walls, through which the river forced its way by a gate or canon, not more than eight feet wide, the bed of which was impassable, from masses of rock falling from the impending cliffs. An Indian trail, however, was discovered winding under and over the jutting rocks, almost on the face of the precipice, and up this dangerous ascent, the men and animals commenced their march in single file. At the summit their path for two miles was along a narrow defile, from which a false step would have precipitated them mangled corpses into a yawning gulf a thousand feet below. Reaching Weber river, which was beyond the gorge, in safety, they encamped on its banks late in the afternoon.

Finding here an abundance of grass, they remained the following day, for the benefit of their animals. The valley was probably fifteen miles in length. with a variable width of two or three. It was a delightful spot. Wild fruits grew in profusion, many-hued flowers studded its surface, and silvery streams, bordered by luxuriant verdure and shrubs, were winding through it. On both sides the mountains towered up by continuous elevations of several thousand feet, exhibiting a succession of rich vegetation, and then craggy and sterile cliffs, capped by virgin snow, the whole forming a landscape of rare combinations of the beautiful and sublime.

In the course of the day they discovered a fire raging in the woods which covered the mountain on the west; it continued through the succeeding night, filling the whole valley with smoke and cinders; occasional gusts of wind drove it downward, and threatened, before morning, to extend its ravages sufficiently to endanger their progress.

Their route again, on the 26th, carried them over another precipitous mountain road. Scaling immense masses of overhanging rocks, and winding under shelving precipices, they finally, about four o'clock, emerged from their mountain-prison, and encamped on the Weber river, about ten miles above its entrance into the Great Salt lake. From a neighboring elevation they were enabled to overlook this inland ocean. Numerous dark-hued, barren islands were scattered over its surface. Like the sea of Sodom and Gomorrah, it is so thoroughly impregnated with salt, that when the storm winds blow over it, its waters roll to and fro with a dull sluggish movement, and are totally devoid of the sparkling, brilliant appearance of other bodies of water when in motion. The fetor from it was offensively evident, even at, the distance of ten miles. The length of the lake, is probably about one:

hundred miles, and in width, from forty to sixty. During the dry season its shores are coated, by evaporation, with the salt, with which its waters are saturated. Its coast is deeply indented with bays, and numerous small streams of fresh water empty into it on all sides; these, when the mountain torrents pour through them in the rainy season, augment the volume of water, covering the bordering valleys, and giving much greater extension to the lake. When civilization approaches this region, so that the summer tourist can extend his journey to this point, it will become one of the marvels of the New World, as necessary to the curiosity-hunter, as the wonders of Niagara.

The party remained at the Weber for two days, engaged in fishing, and collecting service berries, a small fruit similar to the whortleberry, here very plenty. They found an abundance of salmon trout, some of them weighing four or five pounds, on which they luxuriated with epicurean relish.

They resumed their route, on the 29th, down the borders of the lake, at the base of a range of mountains. The road was difficult, and the progress slow. It was necessary to cross many deep ravines, made by the mountain-torrents, and pick their way among fragments of rocks, the debris of adjoining crags. They coursed around some of the bays of the lake, which were alive with ducks, and turning the point of the mountain, came upon a number of warm springs, which gushed out at the foot of a high precipice, depositing sulphur, with which they were impregnated, for a considerable space. They encamped near a level plain, by a small rivulet, where grass was in abundance; this, from the signs, they supposed was one of Capt. Fremont's camping-grounds. Here, some Utah Indians visited them, from whom they endeavored to obtain meat, but found them entirely destitute. They purchased, however, from the women, a substance formed from pulverized grasshoppers, and service berries. To this, they at first, felt some repugnance, but that wore off, and it was finally all consumed.

The Indians of this region, to capture this insect with greater facility, first dig a pit in the ground, then forming a circle, at a distance, around it, they gradually contract it, and drive the grasshoppers or crickets into the pit, when they are easily secured. They kill, and then bake them in the sun, or before a fire, and pulverize them between smooth stones, when they form a luxury which these poor children of the desert regard highly.

The next day, they reached and forded the Utah outlet, which connects the Utah Lake with the Great Salt. Two days later, they found it necessary to cross a range of mountains, instead of following the shore of the lake, but a mile or two after commencing the ascent, Col. Russell recollected he had left his "nine shooter," a weapon upon which he doted, and some time was lost in a fruitless attempt to recover it. The Indians had carried it off, though it afterward reached its owner, in California, for the savage who had made it a prize, was wounded in the leg, in attempting to fire it off. This struck his chief with such a panic, at its mysterious eccentricity, that he ordered it to be given to some of the succeeding parties.

After a severe and toilsome ascent of several hours, they reached the summit of the mountain, and descended into the valley, at the southern extre

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They are startled at the sudden appearance of a vast body of the wild Indians of the plains, mounted on fleet horses, their long hair streaming in the wind.-Page 301.

mity of the lake. Crossing the Utah outlet, they encamped on the borders. of the great Salt plain, and commenced preparations for the much dreaded journey across it. Rising soon after midnight, a large fire was soon blazing, and by its light they prepared their frugal meal, and packed, and mounted their mules. Bidding adieu to their guide, who was to leave them here, they launched out on their desolate way. From their encampment, they were obliged to cross a spur of the mountain, where they expected to obtain a view of the highlands forming the western terminus of the plain, at which their day's journey was to terminate; this, however, was obscured by the morning haze. But as far as the eye could reach, the plain was a wide waste of desolation, covered with a white incrustation of salt, without one blade of vegetation to relieve the monotony of the sterile scene. Nor did a nearer view relieve the prospective one. The same verdureless fields, white as if the demon of winter had covered it with his icy pall, were everywhere spread out before them, and over them, as they advanced. The mighty storms that had swept over it, had corrugated and rolled up its surface into wavy lines and ridges, that looked, as the light came reflected back from its crystal surface, like the surges of a sea, and so perfect was this illusion, that the advance of the party halted, at one time, on the verge of a valley or shallow depression, that crossed their path, in the full belief that their further progress was stopped by the intervention of another lake, and it was not till they were safely riding over its surface, that the illusion was entirely dispelled.

"The mirage, a beautiful phenomenon," says Mr. Bryant, "here displayed its wonderful illusions, in a perfection and with a magnificence surpassing any presentation of the kind I had previously seen. Lakes, dotted with islands, and bordered by groves of gently-waving timber, whose tranquil and limpid waves reflected their sloping banks and the shady islands in their bosoms, lay spread out before us, inviting us by their illusory temptations to stray from our path and enjoy their cooling shades and refreshing waters. These, fading away as we advanced, beautiful villas adorned with edifices, decorated with all the ornaments of suburban architecture, and surrounded by gardens, shaded walks, parks, and stately avenues, would succeed them, renewing the alluring temptations to repose, by enticing the vision with more. than Calypsan enjoyments or Elysian pleasures. These, also, melting from our view, as those before, would give place to a vast city with countless columned edifices of marble whiteness, and studded with domes, spires, and turreted towers, rising upon the horizon of the plain, astonishing us with its stupendous grandeur and sublime magnificence. But it is in vain to attempt a description of these singular and extraordinary phenomena. Neither prose nor poetry, nor the pencil of the artist, can adequately portray their beauties. The whole distant view around, at this point, seemed like the creations of a sublime and gorgeous dream, or the effect of enchantment.

As we moved onward, a member of our party in the rear called our attention to a gigantic moving object on our left, at an apparent distance of six or eight miles. It is very difficult to determine distances accurately on these plains. Your estimate is based upon the probable dimensions of an object, and unless you know what the object is, and its probable size, you are liable

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