At the eastern end it communicated with the line of basins we
had left a few days since; and on the opposite side it swept a ridge of
snowy mountains, the foot of the great Sierra. We followed a broad
Indian trail or tract along the shore of the lake to the southward. For
a short space we had room enough in the bottom, but, after travelling a
short distance, the water swept the foot of the precipitous mountains,
the peaks of which are about 3000 feet above the lake. We afterwards
encamped on the shore, opposite a very remarkable rock in the lake,
which had attracted our attention for many miles. It rose according to
our estimation 600 feet above the level of the water, and, from the
point we viewed it, presented a pretty exact outline of the great
pyramid of Cheops. Like other rocks along the shore, it seemed to be
encrusted with calcareous cement. This striking feature suggested a name
for the lake, and I called it Pyramid Lake. Its elevation above the sea
is 4890 feet, being nearly 700 feet higher than the Great Salt Lake,
from which it lies nearly west." The position and elevation of Pyramid
Lake make it an object of geographical interest. It is the nearest lake
to the western river, as the Great Salt Lake is to the eastern river, of
the great basin which lies between the base of the Rocky Mountains and
the Sierra Nevada, and the extent and character of which it is so
desirable to know.
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