ntly clear, of an extremely beautiful
bright green color; and the spray which was thrown into the boat and
over our clothes, was directly converted into a crust of common salt,
which covered also our hands and arms. 'Captain,' said Carson, who for
sometime had been looking suspiciously at some whitening appearances
outside the nearest islands, 'what are those yonder?--won't you just
take a look with the glass?' We ceased paddling for a moment, and found
them to be the caps of the waves that were beginning to break under the
force of a strong breeze that was coming up the lake. The form of the
boat seemed to be an admirable one, and it rode on the waves like
a water bird; but, at the same time, it was extremely slow in its
progress. When we were a little more than half way across the reach,
two of the divisions between the cylinders gave way, and it required the
constant use of the bellows to keep in a sufficient quantity of air. For
a long time we scarcely seemed to approach our island, but gradually
we worked across the rougher sea of the open channel, into the smoother
water under the lee of the island, and began to discover that what we
took for a long row of pelicans, ranged on the beach, were only low
cliffs whitened with salt by the spray of the waves; and about noon we
reached the shore, the transparency of the water enabling us to see the
bottom at a considerable depth.

"The cliffs and masses of rock along the shore were whitened by an
incrustation of salt where the waves dashed up against them; and the
evaporating water, which had been left in holes and hollows on the
surface of the rocks, was covered with a crust of salt about one eighth
of an inch in thickness.

"Carrying with us the barometer and other instruments, in the afternoon
we ascended to the highest point of the island--a bare, rocky peak, 800
feet above the lake. Standing on the summit, we enjoyed an extended view
of the lake, inclosed in a basin of rugged mountains, which sometimes
left marshy flats and extensive bottoms between them and the shore,
and in other places came directly down into the water with bold and
precipitous bluffs.

"As we looked over the vast expanse of water spread out beneath us, and
strained our eyes along the silent shores over which hung so much doubt
and uncertainty, and which were so full of interest to us, I could
hardly repress the almost irresistible desire to continue our
exploration; but the lengthening snow on