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Mono Lake is in California, near the base of the Sierra Nevada*, and its 1 water is so highly impregnated with ( alkaline matter as to parch and burn tX' the tongue on tasting it ; wash your ! hands in it, and the skin will shrivel unless immediately rinsed in fresh •n. water. The lake Las been most inaptlvtermed the “dead sea*’ cf the west. It c— 4. (■f;:r- should be called the ‘dive sea—it is asea of life, and is alwavs lively from 1• % •the most dreadful storms. It is true, 1the lake contains no fish of anv kind,tae- yet its waters teem with animal life.This alkaline solution abound' withId* myriads of aquatic insects and animal-cula. They are first seen as a larva cfloating on the surface, then lower in * •—- *the water in the form uf animalcula, and finally they sport in the shape ofrulRSsmall grub-worms, swimming about innv)Rthe manner of little fishes. I he marginof the lake is strewed with their tiny*carcasses, where they are driven Lvy * »storms and piled up in ridges or mounds Lfrom one foot to three feet in hight. -1 heir remains emit a very unpleasantodor, over and around which continually 11*swarm a peculiar black fly, either feed- ^ ing off the decomposing mass or depos- c itiiiir its ova. 1 he lake affords fine (^ feeding ground for innumeral le water- K fowl, such as gulls, ducks, geese, brant c and swan, which remain in the neigh- tiIEborhood until spring, laying their eggs tt\ on the many islands in the lake. It isI .i said that main'of these birds have been a rs .tc shot and found with the webs of their vhefeet eaten off by the corrosive quality of pI -• / the water. The few Indians that now (-I: inhabit the country around the lake col- ulect vast supplies of those aquatic grubs, e: and, after di ving them in the sun. roll 01them between stones until a white kernel ‘1falls out, which they mix with the dour 1 of wild rve and root*, and devour a* ol luscious morsels. The lake contains h numerous islands, several of which have .i(• many bulling springs, sending up beau- h tii'ul columns of steam. Ail of the ^ islands present evidences of intense vel- U;eanic disturbance : on every side are to ai be seen the craters of those extinct fires, cl and lava and other igneous remains ai cover the ground with their fantastic ht S forms. Numerous largo stream- flow aiu-into the lake, which has no apparent d outlet. 1 hough it is well sheltered bv mi:* a succession of lofty mountain ranges to m- encircling it. perhaps no more boisterous sheet of water can be found anywhere, or Storms aud hurricanes prevail full nine tl months of the vear ; thev are nut regu- o:* « C-/lar and continuous, but occur in the o: most- sudden and fitful fashion, without li a moment's premonition, which renders ' any attempt to navigate its waters unpleasant if not hazardous. Near the w southern extremity of the lake are the oiremains of three very remarkable vol- ai%•canoes. These three cone shaped peaks ci rise to the hight of fifteen hundred feet, of presenting craters of great and variable lt;\ J depth, from which there once belched forth vast volumes of molten lava.cTheir sides, from summit to base, are tl even now covered with vast accumula- rlt; tions of debris, and offer a most inviting m field O'the curious and intelligent trav- aielers.— Rtcse River Reveille. d
Newspaper Details
Oroville Weekly Union Record
Oroville, California, US
Sat, Dec 09, 1865
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Dean T.
USA 23 Nov 2022
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