The skeleton when discovered was
nearly perfect and entirely exposed, and its elevation above the level
of the sea between one and two thousand feet. How the huge aquatic
monster, of which this skeleton is the remains, managed to make his dry
bed on the summit of an elevated mountain, more experienced geologists
than myself will hereafter determine. I have an opinion on the subject,
however; but it is so contrary in some respects to the received
geological theories, that I will not now hazard it.
Leaving Mr. Livermore's about nine o'clock A.M., we travelled three or
four miles over a level plain, upon which immense herds of cattle were
grazing. When we approached, they fled from us with as much alarm as
herds of deer and elk. From this plain we entered a hilly country,
covered to the summits of the elevations with wild oats and tufts or
hunches of a species of grass, which remains green through the whole
season. Cattle were scattered through these hills, and more sumptuous
grazing they could not desire. Small streams of water, fed by springs,
flow through the hollows and ravines, which, as well as the hill-sides,
are timbered with the evergreen oak and a variety of smaller trees.
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