THE SOUTH ROAD EXPEDITION 25
hixury. There was plenty of dry wood and an abundance of green grass for our animals, and we enjoyed the camp exceed- ingly. Sitting around our fire that evening, we discussed the adventures of the past few days in this new and strange land. The circumstances of the last day had been particularly inter- esting. Our adventure in the rocks; the retreat of the whole Modoc tribe in a fleet of thirty or forty canoes across the lake from Goff; the singularity of the natural bridge; the vast fields of tule around the lake, and the fact that the lake was an independent body of water, were subjects of peculiar in- terest and only intensified our desire to see more of this then wild land.
July 7th, we left the valley of Tule Lake to pursue our course eastward, over a rocky table land, among scattering juniper trees. We still observed the timbered butte as our landmark, and traveled as directly toward it as the shape of the country would admit. This butte is near the State line, between Clear lake and Goose lake, and probably distant fifty miles from the lava ridge west of Lost river, from which we first observed it, and supposing rt to be about thirty miles away. In pursuing our course we passed through the hilly, juniper country between Langell valley and Clear lake without seeing either the valley or lake, and at noon arrived at the bed of a stream where there was but little water. The course of the stream was north or northwest, and appearances indicated that at times quite a volume of water flowed in the channel. This was evidently the bed of Lost river, a few miles north of where this singular stream leaves the Clear river marsh.
Leaving this place, we pursued our journey through a sim- ilar country to that passed over during the forenoon, and en- camped at a little spring among the junipers, near the base of the timbered hill, and passed a very pleasant night.
On the morning of July 8th, we passed our landmark and traveled nearly eastward, over a comparatively level but ex- tremely rocky country, and nooned in the channel of another
