have been overlooked. The fact that it is increasing in depth while Pyramid is said to be decreasing, seems to indicate that it is of recent origin and occasioned by some accidental deflection of the Truckee from its legitimate course. The fresh water of the river is soon deteriorated by admixture with that of the lake, which like all similar sheets, devoid of outlets, is brackish and unpleasant to the taste. The most showy plants of the Truckee Valley, in addition to those already mentioned, were a gigantic Thelypodium often rising to a height of six feet, two species of Mentzelia (lævicaulis and albicaulis) a species of Hosackia, and two of Cleome, and Sida. Near the mouth of the river occurs a remarkable deposit of infusorial earth. It is found encased in the calcareous tufa so prevalent in this vicinity. Under this lies the basaltic rock. The "chalk," as it is here called, is one hundred feet in width and forms a perpendicular bluff nearly forty feet in height from the stream, which at this point is very deep. The whole deposit is very free from impurities and upon microscopical examination, by my brother, proved to be composed entirely of fresh-water forms.

From the Truckee to the Humboldt Valley there is about a day's hard riding through deep sands and deserts devoid of water, where only grows a depauperate form of sage brush (Artemisia), or the equally dreary grease wood (Obione). The hills in sight are of volcanic origin, and are covered with loose and blackened scoriaceous rocks, occasionally encased in tufa. There is not a vestige of a tree, shrub or herb, with the exception of the ashy colored sage or the singular Effedra (anti-syphilitica). The first and only object that awakens any interest is the group of hot springs. There are some fifteen or twenty of these presenting different degrees of temperature. One spring indicated 2010 Fah., while others were positively cool. The water is beautifully clear, but contains salts in solution which render it unpalatable. It is, when cooled, however, preferable to most of the villainous decoctions of the sixty-three elements,

which, in the absence of the genuine article, pass in this region for water. It is often in a state of violent ebullition, and is thrown up in intermittent jets, especially when extraneous substances are introduced. Some of the springs of this region, highly saturated with mineral ingredients, build for themselves a conical chimney, as it were, by the deposition of their dissolved constituents. Coarse and wiry, but verdant grasses spring up around. Sometimes living fish make their abode in these boiling springs, though not found in the particular group in question. I have seen them from similar wells where the surface of the water marked 70°. This statement is consistent with that of other observers in various parts of the world. Carpenter says "we have examples of the compatibility of even the heat of boiling water with the preservation of animal life. Thus in a hot spring at Manilla, which raises the thermometer to 187°, and in another in Barbary, whose usual temperature is 1720, fishes have been seen to flourish. Fishes have been thrown up in very hot water from the crater of a volcano, which from their lively condition, was apparently their natural residence." Various confervæ and animalculæ are known to occur in similar situations, and indeed, were noticed in these identical springs. Carpenter adds, "small caterpillars have been found in hot springs of the temperature of 2050, and small black beetles, which died when placed in cold water, in the hot sulphur baths of Albano." After these quotations I hope no one will charge me with Munchausenism. In apparent extravagance they certainly far surpass my statement.

A few hours after leaving the springs the road begins to descend, and soon a view is obtained of the basin into which both the Humboldt and Carson Rivers enter and "sink," or disappear in the sands. A broad, barren valley is stretched out before us, through which the course of the river is indicated by the fringe of green tules which border it. Occasionally the plain is marked by a tract of white alkaline

Hence

At the

salts, looking like a snow field as it glistens in the sunlight. The mountains, most fantastic in outline, which border the valley, are enveloped in a gauze-like mist which seems to preclude all further inquiry into the features of the anomalous landscape. There is no live color in the scene. Even the greens with which nature usually relieves her more rugged details, are here wanting, except in the case of the tules above mentioned. Still there is a strangely fascinating and weird beauty in the view peculiar to these deserts. Here the Humboldt which begun its course far away as a fair young stream, expands into a lake, and becoming disgusted with its vitiated life commits suicide by self-burial. the spot is known as the Sink of the Humboldt. sink proper, the water is intensely alkaline and disgusting to the taste, and the atmosphere is filled with noxious vapors and miasms. The legions of mosquitoes which infest the tules are the food of numerous water-fowl, to whom I candidly wish all success in their warfare upon the insects. Among the birds a black swan is said to appear at times, but I did not have the fortune to see one if any such occur.' Above the lake the Humboldt is a narrow, sluggish and serpentine stream, hardly wider than an eastern creek and totally lacking its vivacity. The water is turbid and unpleasant to the taste. The fish which frequent it are when cooked soft and tasteless. Not a tree adorns the last hundred miles of the stream, low willows and Shepherdia being the nearest approach to arborescent growth. The lofty range of West Humboldt mountains are now in sight, whose highest point, Star Peak, rises to an altitude of nine thousand nine hundred and sixty feet above the sea. From the great height of the range, its direction north and south in conformity with the trend of the other ridges, its frequent water courses giving life and beauty to narrow belts of luxuriant vegetation, and the wide prospect to be obtained from its many commanding points, it affords numerous subjects for consideration. Many deep cañons channel its rugged

sides, most of which contain clear water. A strange fact in regard to these streams, is that they run freely, even boisterously, during the night and early morning, and dry up utterly in the lower part of their course toward noon. The power of the sun is such as to totally evaporate the water before it reaches the plains, while the powerful radiation during the night allows the stream to resume its proper dimensions. If a handkerchief be saturated with water at noonday and then flirted in the air, it becomes dry in a moment, thus indicating the wonderful absorptive power of the atmosphere. Rains are so infrequent in summer that it becomes a cause of wonders, not that the rills should fail, but that they should ever flow. Along these little streams willows, aspens (Populus tremuloides), Cornus, Shepherdia and elders. (Sambucus) grow most abundantly, and Clematis with its feathery plumes waves over all. The herbage is peculiarly interesting also, columbines (Aquilegia formosa), asters and solidagos, leading us away in spirit to where their beauteous kindred smile upon the New England autumn, while the gilia (G. pulchella) and lupines are equally lovely though less familiar. Away from the streams the wild sage only thrives, if so wretched a specimen of vegetable life can be said to flourish. By far the greater mass of the mountains is desert, like the plains they overlook. The great, brown earth waves roll down into the valleys unrelieved by a dash of green, except where some sombre juniper fights its hard battle for life. Variously colored lichens occur on all the rocks, and an occasional tuft of moss on those exposed to the streams, but ferns are nowhere seen. High up on the range is found a luxuriant growth of a species of Ceanothus, and at seven thousand feet or thereabouts, the sage yields to the western juniper (Juniperus occidentalis) and mountain mahogany (Cercocarpus ledifolius). The latter is a handsome tree, averaging twenty feet in height, with bright glossy leaves, whose revolute margins conceal the brown scurf of their inferior surfaces. Its silvery bark, the

strangely plumose fruit and shining leaves render it very conspicuous. As in the case of the manzanita (Arctostaphylla glauca) of California, the wood is susceptible of a high polish and is used for many ornamental purposes. This tree and the juniper form the only respectable fuel which the country affords, and the traveller may consider himself especially blessed if he lights upon either when frantically searching for the wherewithal to kindle a blaze. The juniper is the more common tree, and is sometimes twenty or more feet in height. The wood is lighter colored and appears scarcely so compact as our eastern red cedar, which in other respects it closely resembles.

The character of the vegetation is quite different on opposite sides of the same range, many plants being found on one side which are not at all represented on the other. As a rule the eastern exposure is the more fertile. Instances of this peculiar distribution are the little alpine potentilla (Ivesia Newberryi) found in chinks and crevices of high exposed granite bluffs on the western side, and a curious mosslike Spiraea (tomentosa) only found in somewhat similar locations on the eastern side. A few eastern weeds thrive about the houses in Unionville, and I also found Ranunculus cymbalaria at quite an altitude in the cañons. This fact does not speak well for the soil, as this little plant generally favors the sea-shore or neighborhood of saline springs. A wild tobacco (Nicotiana) is common, which the Indians called "pah! monh!" pronounced as two interjections, and with much the sound of a person vigorously smoking an obdurate pipe. They informed us that it was formerly much used by their tribe, until superseded by the superior article of the white men. The fleshy roots of a Phelipaca they told me they employed as food in the month of October.

The view from the West Humboldt Mountains is very extensive and remarkable. The atmosphere is so pure in this region that it is possible to see a distance of sixty miles as readily as one could twenty at home. From this great