outside the nearest islands, 'what are those yonder? -- won't you
just take a look with the glass?' We ceased paddling for a moment,
and found them to be the caps of the waves that were beginning to
break under the force of a strong breeze that was coming up the
lake. The form of the boat seemed to be an admirable one, and it
rode on the waves like a water bird; but, at the same time, it was
extremely slow in its progress. When we were a little more than half
way across the reach, two of the divisions between the cylinders
gave way, and it required the constant use of the bellows to keep
in a sufficient quantity of air. For a long time we scarcely seemed
to approach our island, but gradually we worked across the rougher
sea of the open channel, into the smoother water under the lee of
the island, and began to discover that what we took for a long row
of pelicans, ranged on the beach, were only low cliffs whitened
with salt by the spray of the waves; and about noon we reached the
shore, the transparency of the water enabling us to see the bottom
at a considerable depth.

"The cliffs and masses of rock along the shore were whitened by an
incrustation of salt where the waves dashed up against them; and
the evaporating water, which had been left in holes and hollows on
the surface of the rocks, was covered with a crust of salt about
one eighth of an inch in thickness.

"Carrying with us the barometer and other instruments, in the
afternoon we ascended to the highest point of the island -- a bare,
rocky peak, 800 feet above the lake. Standing on the summit, we
enjoyed an extended view of the lake, inclosed in a basin of rugged
mountains, which sometimes left marshy flats and extensive bottoms
between them and the shore, and in other places came directly down