Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 58.djvu/519

Rh point of the shore like an old ruined castle, there by the roadside a cluster of nearly spherical domes, partly broken down and showing the concentric inner structure. But upon the far side of the lake, standing out clearly in the desert air, rises the most attractive feature of all. It is Pyramid Island, and we do no! wonder at Fremont's naming it as he did.

Hiring a boat at a little ranch by the shore, we rowed across the clear and quiet waters of the lake to Pyramid and Anaho islands. The latter island is completely encrusted with the dendritic In fa. which from a distance appears like the overlapping scales upon some gigantic animal.

Upon the eastern side of the islands, rising from the edge of the water there is a most picturesque deposit, known as the mushroom rock and shown in the accompanying photograph. Rising from a firm base, the deposit becomes smaller, and then at the top swells out in a spherical head.

Pyramid Island next demanded attention, and a row of a mile farther brought us close under its towering cliffs. It rises almost vertically from the water, but its sides soon become more sloping and terminate in a point nearly 300 feet high. Its shape is almost symmetrical from whichever side it is viewed. Its surface is of a very light color, and consequently it is a conspicuous landmark from all points about the lake.