The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1869-08-21
The AIlxagi Plains Of Nevada.

The humboldt Valley is from ten to
twenty miles wide, probably the latter, as
the pure atmosphere enables one to sec at
treat distances, and deceives the eye OF the
inexperienced. All is sublimity, dcsola-
ton, and grandeur. With the single eX-
ception Of a few rods from either bank Of
Inc Humboldt there is no earthly sign or
oxen Of vegetation. All the mountain sides
are bare, covered with stones, as If just
thrown out Of volcanoes not a tree, not
a shrub, save the sage grass; not a bird,
not n living animal not a sound save the
rafting of the coach. All is silence, desc
lation. Mighty mountains basking in a
burning sun, and a plain covered with a
ribbon of bright green, lying in the centre,
while its broad edges are deep yellow or
lusty brown. The soil is simply pulycrized
alkali, and the dust, in clouds, covers the
stage, blankets the horses, chokes and
blinds and stiles those inside, while we
Of the outside, shielded by green wells
and seated high up, escaped in some measure
it's suffocating and binding power. We
leave Elcho at 10 o'clock, lying 5000 feet
above the sea, and are doomed for twenty
two hours to follow the Humboldt until We
climb gradually along up and up to 10000
feet above it, where | nov write, and even
here l look up Treasure Hill, 200 feet
higher. | do not exaggeratc at all when |
say that this one days journey, for posi-
tive discomfort, exceeds any other OF the
same distance on the earth, unless it be in
the centre Of Africa. The silence and de-
ISOLATION that everywhere meet the eye i'm
press all men, and they grow moody and
finally sink into utter dumbncss. Thcmist
chickens and hangs i'll dark clouds like a
tropical thunderstorm on the carriage and
its inmates. The horses snort and cough
rs ii fills their lungs; it permeatcS the nose
and eyes and ears of the passengers; it
makes them blind, and deaf, and dumb
it permeates the clothes, crccps under your
under-clothing, thickens around the eyes,
makes them red like a drunkard's you eat
It. drink it, breathe it, snuff it it clothes
You, covers YOU, fills all the pores and in
;~ersticcs of Tie body and each man and
woman is a living, moving mass of alkaline
dust. The horses, lost to sight, dash on, up
hill and down hill, at the rate of seven
miles per hour, though the dust crumbles
beneath their feet at least ten inches in
depth, and they ere actually blanketcd with
alkali. Here and there the Humboldt
crosses the road, and, with its bright, laugh
ing waters, g,rgles along, making the dust
and thirst more sitting by contrast. The
horses snort as we stop to give them drink,
and the passengers climb down and rush to
The water like the camel of the desert. A
breathing moment, and away again we go
higher, yet higher, and still enshrouded in
the same dusty cloud. The III pours down
into the coach, and as it rises to its meri-
dian height it scorchcs and burns and with
the alkali our passengers are soon like
dcyiled ham "a dirty red) until all identity
is gone. Mems whiskers, moustaches, and
hair, are all stiffened with alkali, and the
very highest point of discomfort and misery
is reached. As we dash along, no bird
sounds a note to soothe us not a living
moving thing is seen save now and then,
at long intervals, an Indian fishing for
trout in the Humboldt not a house, not Il
sheep, not an antelope not a house or barn
or field or fence meets the eye as we drive
onward.-Lctter in Chicago Post.