Proceeding Down This River, The Party Encamped, On The 6th Of
November, At The Outlet Of A Lake About Thirty Miles Long, And
From Two To Three Miles In Width, Completely Imbedded In Low
Ranges Of Mountains, And Connected With Bear River By An
Impassable Swamp.
It is called the Little Lake, to distinguish it
from the great one of salt water.
On the 10th of November, Captain Bonneville visited a place in
the neighborhood which is quite a region of natural curiosities.
An area of about half a mile square presents a level surface of
white clay or fuller's earth, perfectly spotless, resembling a
great slab of Parian marble, or a sheet of dazzling snow. The
effect is strikingly beautiful at all times: in summer, when it
is surrounded with verdure, or in autumn, when it contrasts its
bright immaculate surface with the withered herbage. Seen from a
distant eminence, it then shines like a mirror, set in the brown
landscape. Around this plain are clustered numerous springs of
various sizes and temperatures. One of them, of scalding heat,
boils furiously and incessantly, rising to the height of two or
three feet. In another place, there is an aperture in the earth,
from which rushes a column of steam that forms a perpetual cloud.
The ground for some distance around sounds hollow, and startles
the solitary trapper, as he hears the tramp of his horse giving
the sound of a muffled drum. He pictures to himself a mysterious
gulf below, a place of hidden fires, and gazes round him with awe
and uneasiness.
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