containing magnetic iron. On Sandy creek the formation was of parti-
colored sand, exhibited in escarpments fifty to eighty feet high. In the
afternoon we had a severe storm of hail, and encamped at sunset on the
first New Fork. Within the space of a few miles, the Wind mountains supply
a number of tributaries to Green river, which are called the New Forks.
Near our camp were two remarkable isolated hills, one of them sufficiently
large to merit the name of mountain. They are called the Two Buttes, and
will serve to identify the place of our encampment, which the observations
of the evening placed in longitude 109 deg. 58' 11", and latitude 42 deg. 42' 46".
On the right bank of the stream, opposite to the large hill, the strata
which are displayed consist of decomposing granite, which supplies the
brown sand of which the face of the country is composed to a considerable
depth.

10th.--The air at sunrise is clear and pure, and the morning extremely
cold, but beautiful. A lofty snowy peak of the mountain is glittering in
the first rays of the sun, which have not yet reached us. The long
mountain wall to the east, rising two thousand feet abruptly from the
plain, behind which we see the peaks, is still dark, and cuts clear
against the glowing sky. A fog, just risen from the river, lies along the
base of the mountain. A little before sunrise, the thermometer was at 35 deg.,
and at sunrise 33 deg.. Water froze last night, and fires are very
comfortable. The scenery becomes hourly more interesting and grand, and
the view here is truly magnificent; but, indeed, it needs something to
repay the long prairie journey of a thousand miles. The sun has shot above
the wall, and makes a magical change. The whole valley is glowing and
bright, and all the mountain peaks are gleaming like silver. Though these
snow mountains are not the Alps, they have their own character of grandeur
and magnificence, and doubtless will find pens and pencils to do them
justice. In the scene before us, we feel how much wood improves a view.