Before leaving the subject of lakes, springs, &c., we must not omit to
mention the Great Salt lake of Utah territory, which has been gazed upon
with interest by many an emigrant, passing with his family, as
represented in the following cut, to his far western home. This lake
lies in a region abounding with scenery of unrivaled magnificence and
beauty. “Descend from the mountains,” says a late writer, “where you
have the scenery and climate of Switzerland, to seek the sky of your
choice among the many climates of Italy, and you may find, welling out
of the same hills, the freezing springs of Mexico, and the hot springs
of Iceland, both together coursing their way to the great salt sea in
the plain below. The pages of Malte Brun provide me with a less truthful
parallel to it, than those which describe the happy valley of Rasselas,
or the continent of Balnibarbi. In the midst of this interesting region,
the most remarkable object is the Great Salt lake: which, in the
saltness of its waters, in the circumstance of its having no outlet, and
being fed from another and smaller lake of fresh water, (with which it
is connected by a stream which has appropriately been called the
Jordan,) and in the rugged character of some portions of the surrounding
region, bears a remarkable resemblance to the Dead sea of Palestine.
Instead, however, of lying one thousand feet below, it is more than four
thousand feet above the level of the sea; and its waters, being an
almost pure solution of common salt, are free from the pungent and
nauseous taste which characterizes those of the Dead sea. This lake is
about seventy miles long, and thirty miles wide, and is so intensely
salt that no living thing can exist in it; and by evaporation in hot
weather, it leaves on its shores a thick incrustation of salt.
[Illustration: THE EMIGRANT FAMILY.]
Some twenty-five miles south of this, and connected with it by the river
Jordan, as mentioned above, is Utah lake, a body of fresh water, some
thirty-five miles in length, which abounds with trout and other fish.
And some seven hundred feet higher still, is Pyramid lake, on the slope
of the Sierra Nevada mountains, so named from a singular pyramidal mount
rising from its transparent waters to the hight of some six hundred
feet; and walled in by almost perpendicular precipices, in some places
three thousand feet high. Some distance from here, too, are the _boiling
springs_, described by Fremont, the largest basin of which is several
hundred feet in circumference, and has a circular space at one end some
fifteen feet in diameter, entirely occupied with the boiling water. A
pole sixteen feet in length, was entirely submerged on thrusting it down
near the center; and the temperature of the water near the edge was two
hundred and six degrees. In this vicinity also, are appearances similar
to the _mirages_ of the great deserts of the old world. In traveling
over the salt deserts of the Fremont basin, his party saw themselves
reflected in the air, probably, as Fremont himself suggests, from the
saline particles floating in the atmosphere, and in some way affecting
its refracting power. The entire region, is one of great wildness and
grandeur.
-------------------------------------------