had to quit writing in my diary. We spent a very
uncomfortable night, and got out of the place early, going down into a
warmer atmosphere and to a level stretch of deep sand covered with a
thick growth of sagebrush. Having neglected to fill our canteens while
on the mountain, we had to travel all day in the sand, under a scorching
sun, without a drop of water. This was our first severe experience in
water-hunger, and we thought of the deserts yet to be crossed.

At night we were delighted with coming to a stream, by the side of which
we made camp, ourselves and our animals quite exhausted with the day's
experiences. The country along here was very rough and mountainous,
making travelling very difficult, so much so that two or more men
dropped out to rest up.

We were soon in the region of the "City of Rocks," which was not a great
distance south of Fort Hall, in Oregon. This place, to all appearance,
was surrounded by a range of high hills, circular in form and perhaps a
quarter mile in diameter. A small stream of mountain water ran through
it, near which we made our noon meal.

From about the center of this circle arose two grand, colossal steeples
of solid rock, rising from two hundred to three hundred feet high; in
outline they resembled church steeples. From the base of these great
turrets, allowing the eyes to follow the circular mountains, could be
seen a striking resemblance to a great city in ruins. Tall columns rose
with broad facades and colossal archings over the broad entrances, which
seemed to lead into those great temples of nature. Many of the
formations strongly resembled huge lions crouched and guarding the
passageways. Altogether the spot was one of intense interest and stood
as strong evidence that

"The manuscript of God remains
Writ large in waves and woods and rocks."

In crossing the valley of Raft River, which is tributary to the Snake
River, and finally empties into the Columbia, we came to a deep,
ditch-like crack in the earth, partly filled with water and soft mud.
It was about a rod in width, but so long that we could not see its end
either up or down the valley as far as the eye could reach, so there was
no possible show to head it or go around it. Scattered along its length
we could see a dozen or more wagons standing on their heads, as it were,
in this almost bottomless ditch of mud and water, each waiting for the
bank to be dug out in front of it, when a long cattle-te