The daily exchange. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1858-1861, 1858-05-28
FROM UTAH.
TFROM OUR SPECIAL CORREsP ONDENE

CAMP SCOTT, U. t., March "a, 1858.
The last mail for the States left in an ambulance
drawn by six mules, three abreast. Their legs
seemed to move mechanically dragged forward by
animal will, stimulated by the habit of locomotion
generally, rather than from internal vigor and
strength; for there is life in dead grass there
can certainly be no strength derived from it. One
of the greatest wonders of nature is how the econo
my Of animal life can be carried through winter
here on such grass. Life must be sustained as with
the bear, on fat previously acquired.
The beeves killed to-day were so thin in the four
quarters that you might almost read a newspaper
through them, "a fore quarter weighs less than
ninety pounds, bones and ALL and even this has to
be eaten without the granuae sells.
The Governor (Oumming1 was severely bitten
| by a dog, which Is supposed to have been mad,
though some account for it by saving that the dog
bit the Governor because the Governor was the on
| ly flesh that he had lately worth eating By
the way, it is said that both dogs and wolves run
| mad here during the winter from the want
OF water, being excluded from it by the ice which
covers the streams. Think of dog having such an
intense thirst for wateras length not only 90 to
the other extreme of aversion to it, but to inspire
those whom he bites with the same horror! An apt
Illustration OF MOrmoniSm, which has such desire
for freedom freedom Of thought, freedom of speech
! freedom OF worship-soil, and action generally, as
| to go to the other extreme of the most unlimited
despotism that the world ever saw. And those who
| are bitten by this infection do not easily recover
| from it: they have but dreamy notion of the ex-
isting state of things afterwards Is such one
OF the ends of Humanity's longings-the end of the
| dog thirstng for water?
The remnants of Magraws SURVEYING party ar
rived from Wind River, the eastern slape OF the
| mountains, where they had passed the winter The
whole of his remaining party, bag and baggage, is
now merged i'll the military expedition against
| Utah.
Wind River is a tributary of the Yellow Stone
which empties into the Missouri, and the Governor
thinks that supplies for the army could be brought
by steam up those rivers from st. Louis, to within
about three hundred miles of this point The idea
is worth testing, for, if practicable, it would save
! great deal of the cost of transportation which is
now paid to the ''Prarie Schooner" as the immense
ox-wagon is called. few military stations out
| here, where grass could be stacked and barley
raised and housed, would enable exploring parties
to take the field much earlier in the season. and re-
| mann much longer out than they now do. A
Judlcious system of occupation and exploration
| OF this region Of country would save a great
| deal of unnecessary expenditure of time and money
Looking down upon the world and its affairs as we
do from the Rocky Mountains, our government
looks very small occupied it is with such small be-
| lifting political squabbes.
You have probably heard of one of our advanced
pickets having been fired into the other night The
! picket was under the command of a Sergeant of
Dragons, and was out some eight or ten miles on
! the Salt Lake road During the light the Sergeant
became aware that party was after his mules. As
| he approached them, one of the who was about
| to mount mule, took aim at him and exclaimed
| I'D d-m you, I'll have you at any rate He
fired, and the ball tore off piece of the Sergeant's
waist belt plate, but without any further damage
The Sergeants piece snapped, owing to some defect,
which, it is said, has become quite common in the
government arms. The MormonS got off with half
| a dozen or more mules.
The winter has been very mild here and it is sup
posed that in consequence, shall have late and
stormy spring. Already since the 18th of March,
wehave had threet falls ofsnow, though for long time
previously, the grass begun to sprout in places in
sects had been thawed from the torpor of winter by
the renewed heat of the sum- and ducks and geese
| had come forth from the waters of the Great
| Salt Lake to explore along the already ice
| oosened streams The Great Salt Lake Basin
is a remarkable feature the face of the
Globe, dimple of graveness and solemnity, rather
than of witchery and smiles. 1t is like the great
basin of the city of Mexico with shallow water its
bottom. This great basin, which is several thou
sand feet deep and hundreds of miles in circuit,
was at one time, perhaps full of water, and has be-
come nearly dry by the gradual process of evapora-
ton, the water being pumped out by the machinery
of Nature into the great valley of the Misss-
sippi.
On comparing this basin with that of Mexico, and
drawing parallel between the tab Indians, some of
whom are very handsome persons, with the ancient
Aztecs, one Is again struck, for the thousandth
time by the query, why was civilization the birth
of the warmer regions of the Globe and not of the
North And why does itfl0urish more in the North
| whittier it has emigrated, than in the South where
its ruins lie like the fragments of eggshes around
| the nest d?
To this query, we may find the image of rea-
son in the character of himself. At first he is
helpless, but grows and wakes strong upon the full
pap OF sustenance that is thrust by maternal care
into his own mouth. There he hangs and thrives,
till finally having arrived at mans estate, the slim
illus of want and severity is necessary to give him
manly igor and tone. So with civilization-man's
| highest trait-it was nursed at first on the warm
bounteous bosom of Mother Nature on plantains
and bananas, but finally it thrives and tlourishes
most amidst the rigors and steriiy of the wintery
| North.
March 25.-Durng the passage of the equinox
the weather has been very unsettled. The squall
that came up from the west at night fall last night,
spat out its with fury and buster that soon
covered the bare spots with white. The wind is al
most always from the westward, ranging from 5. w.
ton. w. 1t is the warm breath of the great, broad
breasted Pacific, and it keeps these mountains at the
same mean isotherma degree of temperature through
many degrees of latitude. They are like strand
upon which great, warm aerial ocean is ever
breaking-its roar mimcking the roar of the
March 26.-The Zephyrs are in mder mood to-
day, and they are decking the peaks of the Utah
mountains with garlands of clouds, as the imps Of
Fame do with laurel the cold brows that rise up
into the more raritied moral atmosphere of the
world. These mountains are beautiful Objects
They are from twelve to fourteen thousand feet
above the level of the sea- and are a great snow
reservoir for supplying several of the head tribu
taries of the Colorado of the west. They are rs
white now the complexion of Caucasian ghost
and by moonlight look like an immense giant
lying along beneath a heavy white blanket, while
the howl of wolves sounds as If he were snoring
dismally to the dull ear of night.
These mountains rise still at least mile higher
than we are, and full days ride to the south
ward of us. The most striking exhibition of ele
mental power we ever saw was during violen
wind the other day, when the drifting snow coulC
be seen spinning from their lofty SUBMITS like foam
from the crests of waves in gale at sea.
In concluding this days reflections, am happ,
to state that the dog which bit the Governor wal
not mad-such a want ofrespect for authority beins