joiced at meeting once more with their comrades,
from whom they had so long been separated. The first inquiry of Captain
Bonneville was about the result of their journey, and the information
they had procured as to the Great Salt Lake; the object of his intense
curiosity and ambition. The substance of their report will be found in
the following chapter.

38.

Plan of the Salt Lake expedition--Great sandy deserts--
Sufferings from thirst--Ogden's--River--Trails and smoke of
lurking savages--Thefts at night--A trapper's revenge--
Alarms of a guilty conscience--A murderous victory--
Californian mountains--Plains along the--Pacific--Arrival
at--Monterey--Account of the place and neighborhood--Lower--
California--Its extent--The Peninsula--Soil--Climate--
Production--Its settlements by the Jesuits--Their sway over
the Indians--Their expulsion--Ruins of a missionary
establishment--Sublime scenery--Upper California Missions--
Their power and policy--Resources of the country--Designs of
foreign nations

IT WAS ON THE 24TH of July, in the preceding year (1833), that the
brigade of forty men set out from Green River valley, to explore the
Great Salt Lake. They were to make the complete circuit of it, trapping
on all the streams which should fall in their way, and to keep journals
and make charts, calculated to impart a knowledge of the lake and the
surrounding country. All the resources of Captain Bonneville had been
tasked to fit out this favorite expedition. The country lying to the
southwest of the mountains, and ranging down to California, was as yet
almost unknown; being out of the buffalo range, it was untraversed
by the trapper, who preferred those parts of the wilderness where
the roaming herds of that species of animal gave him comparatively an
abundant and luxurious life. Still it was said the deer, the elk, and
the bighorn were to be found there, so that, with a little diligence and
economy, there was no danger of lacking food. As a precaution, however,
the party halted on Bear River and hunted for a few days, until they had
laid in a supply of dried buffalo meat and venison; they then passed by
the head waters of the Cassie River, and soon found themselves launched
on an immense sandy desert. Southwardly, on their left, they beheld the
Great Salt Lake, spread out like a sea, but they found no stream running
into it. A desert extended around them, an