New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1859-08-30

wv - w. g1e tomc team kuIe' Vi
G uI'e) al next az, making 50 miles; bu. we
opped 70 rest AID eed then ~ ssb- tssos, only
70 nIes rom our starting -poist. 1t was about
he foro'nes' iYot 1 ever saw. Though st the
loot oil low 10 ountsio, there was 10 water near
u; Dat ~hlc'. bad been given our mules h.d been
carttd IN q barrel from Simpsons Spring afcre-
said, and 30 il must be An attempt to siak well
st this ont bad thus far proved failure Toe
siah.S keeper here hSes entirely alODe-'h,t 10,
wbe'i the IUdiaDs will let bim-seepg frieD5H
fac e bu. twice week, when toe ma'l-stags passes
. ne way or the otoer. He deeply regretted Bis
lack of books and newspsprs; we could only
give HIM one Of the latter. Why do no, men " 10
contract to run mails through such desolate re-
elODs cOnprs heDd that their own interest, II no
Lobler coHs, detatiOn, should impei them to supply
their stations with good reading mstteri i am
quite sure ,hs. 500 spent by Nj CharpeniOg in
supplyDg t1o or three good jourosls to each sta
ton on his route aud ia providing foe their inter
change from station to station, would save him
nCre than $1,000 10 keeping good men In his
service, and In inbuiDs them with CONT ntment
at gratitude. So with other mail-roates through
regions Ike thf.
We drove oD that day so miles to Fish Springs
station Just before reaching which We passed one
Of the salt wells which are character etc of this
country, though presume not peculiar to it. This
one s about six eight fett IN diameter, and per-
bsps an equal distance from the surface Of the eur
ROUNDING earth TO th,t Of the water, which has
ubitisb green aspect is intensely salt and sad to
be uDfa bousbl., with a downward suction which
d man could hardly or not at all resist had 10
detiIe TO Try, badly as needed ablution.
Fsh Springs form quite Large pool At the nor'h
end of a low mountain range, and send of q
copious stream to be drank up in the course Of
three or four miles b, the thirsty clay of the ain.
The water il brscksb, AID | think sulpburous, ss
that Of spring in the adjacent marsh near the
the station clearly ia. There are many fish in the
pool and stream, aid they are said to be good |
should have liked to verify the assertion; and If
they bite buDdredth part so freely as the NUE.
| be,oes do hereabout, it were sD easy msttes to
af,Id the stage passengers here change fr'
their usual ratoDs OF pork, bread and coffee,
which, when the -four, or the pork, or the coffee,
| happens to be Ou', as it sometimes does, renders
,be diet unss isfsctory, even to those who would
seem to have be TN seasoned to the ike By pas
sage across the Plains and the Rocky Mountains.
Fi.b Springs are just so miles ffom living water on
either SIDE and the stages have 10 at least ten
miles out of their course to stnke them. There is
some coarse grass here.
JUN 23d.-We travelled this forenoon over
plain nearly surrounded by mountains. Said plain
is very level to the eye, but the rapid travellers
sense Of fe. ling contrsdcts this, for he 6nds 1t full
OF dry wstercourses, which give bin most uncon-
Portable iolts Before noon, We came to toe spot
where the stage mules are turned out to feed I'd
rest, by the ride of shk or depression in the
paip, which is covered with co grass and reeds
or burushes. by digging IN the side of this sink,
water has been easily obtained, but so salphurous
and generally bad az TO be barely drinkabe. Even
tie mules, think, practice great moderation in
| the use Of it. At !, We hsrnessed W and were
soon rising over long mOunta'npass, hardly less
IL an ten mlles from the level pain to ts summit,
where h light thunder shower-that is light rain
| with heavy thunder-ovcrtook us. We drove
RAPIDLY down its western decivity, and, little
after 5 p n reached our next station 10 Pleasant
"Vslley," broad ravine which desceuds to the
south west. Here we found water-bright, sweet
pure, sparkling leapipg water-the fr,t water fit
to drink that We had reached 10 hundred miles;
if Simpsons Spring ever dries up, the distance
VIII then be at lt asst hundred and twenty. We
were now across wEst is here technically kno gn
the desert -tbs. is to say We had crossed the
Lorthesst corner of H. l believe it extends ut
least 200 miles soutt from this point, and is at
least as far from east 10 west across its center.
! II Uncle sam should ever cell that tract for one
cent per acre, he viii swindle the purchaser out
rsgeously
Let me- eIdesyor on quitting it, to give clear
idea OF this desert apd thus of about half the l,ui
itclOsed between the Rocky Mountains aud tue
Sierra Nevada-the other half being mainly GOV.
cred by mountains and the narrow yavines or
canons which separate them.
The plains or valleys OF Utah, then, have gen.
orally soil of white clay, sometimes rocky at
Others stIesked BY ssrd or gravel; but usually
pure clay, rave as tits mpregDated by some alkaline
subs'auce-usualy saleratus, bat in places inter,
in otheIs, salt or tulphur. Sometimes, tn. rarely,
considerable sIeas Of this slksi in nearly pure
state ale exposed on The surface; in macy p aces
1t covers the beds Of sbslloS, dIsd-up lssc,, aud
even streams, with whitish incrust,ton; but il
is more generally diaused through the soil, and
thus iupregostes the springs and streams Irri.
eating piece of ground strongly iabuei with
alksG viii often bang an incrustatlon of il - tie
surface, after which 10 trouble from il is expe-
nenced ia that place. l tbiDk the greater proper
r