of beautiful flowers is in pleasing contrast with the sterile grandeur of
the rock and the barrenness of the sandy plain, which, from the right bank
of the river, sweeps up to the mountain range that forms its southern
boundary. The great evaporation on the sandy soil of this elevated plain,
and the saline efflorescences which whiten the ground, and shine like
lakes reflecting in the sun, make a soil wholly unfit for cultivation.

3d.--We were early on the road the next morning, traveling along the upper
part of the valley, which is overgrown with _artemisia_. Scattered
about on the plain are occasional small isolated hills. One of these which
I have examined, about fifty feet high, consisted of white clay and marl,
in nearly horizontal strata. Several bands of buffalo made their
appearance to-day, with herds of antelope; and a grizzly bear--the only
one we encountered during the journey--was seen scrambling up among the
rocks. As we passed over a slight rise near the river, we caught the first
view of the Wind River mountains, appearing, at this distance of about
seventy miles, to be a low and dark mountainous ridge. The view dissipated
in a moment the pictures which had been created in our minds, by many
descriptions of travelers, who have compared these mountains to the Alps
in Switzerland, and speak of the glittering peaks which rise in icy
majesty amidst the eternal glaciers nine or ten thousand feet into the
region of eternal snows. The nakedness of the river was relieved by groves
of willows, where we encamped at night, after a march of twenty-six miles;
and numerous bright-colored flowers had made the river bottom look gay as
a garden. We found here a horse, which had been abandoned by the Indians,
because his hoofs had been so much worn that he was unable to travel; and
during the night a dog came into the camp.

4th.--Our camp was at the foot of the granite mountains, which we climbed
this morning to take some barometrical heights; and here among the rocks