. Our country: West. flocks produce well of long, wholesome wool, and theirorchards bow down with loads of fruit. The surface of the state is about five thousand feet abovethe sea-level, on an average, the range being from threethousand feet, in some of the valleys, to ten thousand feet,where snow-clad peaks lift into the deep blue vault aspect of the whole is gray, because sage-brush coversnearly the entire extent, and the surface is a varyingsuccession of mountains and valleys. At various places occur alkali flats, some of which arereadily reclaimed, while some are veritable desert
. Our country: West. flocks produce well of long, wholesome wool, and theirorchards bow down with loads of fruit. The surface of the state is about five thousand feet abovethe sea-level, on an average, the range being from threethousand feet, in some of the valleys, to ten thousand feet,where snow-clad peaks lift into the deep blue vault aspect of the whole is gray, because sage-brush coversnearly the entire extent, and the surface is a varyingsuccession of mountains and valleys. At various places occur alkali flats, some of which arereadily reclaimed, while some are veritable deserts, almost aswhite as snow, flat as a table, and barren as the bottom of asad-iron. Some of these flats are forty miles long and ten to fifteen 154 THE QUEER SURFACE OP NEVADA. miles broad. Over them the winds blow blinding, parchingclouds of smarting dust. On the edges of such blisterssprings frequently gush forth, but the water is brackish andoften poisonous. Beneath these chalk-like floors riches sometimes lie. Men. Queer Surface. dig trenches near the edges and fill them with water. Thesun dries them out, and behold! a fine crust of crystalsalt, pure and clear. Or, again, there may be borax deposits,and laborers plow or dig out the cotton balls of borax, grind THE QUEER SURFACE OF NEVADA. ^55 them up, crystallize them, and get rich from the sackfuls andtons of it carried into distant cities. The state is wonderfully and richly endowed with say nothing of snow-chilled, rock-filtered founts of purewater, there are hundreds of freaky .spoutings, both cold andhot, some of which have attracted the attention of sciencefrom afar. I doubt if any like area contains so great a numberof hot mineral springs. Sulphur taints some so thickly at times that the bottoms ofthe ponds are formed of the grayish stuff, and every sub-merged twig and root is coated heavily with it. The hot springs, however, which are found in almostevery valley, are the most attractive. These gush up in m
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectwestusdescriptionand
