Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1869-09-08
OUR GRAND SCENERY.
The AIkaIi Plains Of Nevada.

The Humboldt Valley is from ten to
twenty miles wide, probably the lat
! ter, as the pure atmosphere enables
one to see at great distances, ana de-
ceives the eye of the inexperienced
All is sublimity, desOlation and gran
deur. With the single exception of a
few rods from either bank of the Hum
bOldt, there is no earthly sign or to-
ken of vegetation. All the mountain
sides are bare, covered with st nes, as
if Just thrown out of volcanoes not q
tree, not a shrub, save the sage grass /;
not bird, not living animal; not a
sound save the rattling of the coach.
All is silence, desolatiOn. Mighty
mountains basking in a burning sun,
and a plain covered with a ribbon
of bright green, lying in the center,
while its broad edges are deep yellow
or dusty brown. The soil is simply
pulverized alkali, and the dust, in
clouds, covers the stage, blankets the
horses, chOkes and blinds and STILES
those inside, while we of the outside,
protected by green wells, and seated
high up, escape in some measure, its
sutfoeating and binding power. We
leave Echo at ten o'clock. lying 5000
feet above the sea, and are doomed for
twenty-five hours TO follow the Hum.
bOldt until we climb gradually along
up aDd up to 1900 feet above it,
where l now write, and even here /
look up to Treasure Hill, / 200 feet
higher. l do not exaggerate at all,
when l say that this one days jour
ney, for positive discomfort, exceeds
any other of the same distance on the
earth, unless it be in the center of Af-
rica. The silence and desolation that
everywhere meet the eye, impress all
men, and they grow moody and final
" sink into utter dumbness. The mist
thickens and hangs in dark clouds like
a tropical thunder storm on the car
riage and its inmates. The horses
snort and cough, as it fills their lungs;
1t permeates the nose and eyes and
ears of the passengers, ii makes them
blind and deaf and dumb; it perme-
ates the clothes, creeps under the un-
der-clothing, ,thickensarQund the eyes,
makes them red like a drunkard's;
you eat it, drink it, breathe it, snuffit;
1t clothes you, covers you, fills all the
insterstces of the 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 at
the rate of seven miles per hour,
though the dust crumbles beneath
their feet, at least ten inches in depth
and they are actually blanketed with
alkali. Here and there the Humboldt
crosses the road, and with its bright
laughing waters, guTgles along, max
ing the dust and thirst more trifiing
by contrast. The horses snort as we
stop to give them drink, and the pas
sengers climb down and rush 10 the
water like the camel of the desert. A
breathing moment, and away we go,
higher, yet higher, and still enshroud-
ed in the same dusty cloud. The sun
pours down into the coach, and as it
rises to its meridian heat, it scorches
and burns; and with alkali our pas
sengers are soon like deviled ham, a
dirty red, until all identity is gone.-
Mems whiskers, mustaches, 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 note to soothe us -
not living, moving thing is seen,
save now and then, at long intervals, |
an Indian fishing for trout in the /
Humboldt; not house, not a sheep, |
not an antelope; hot a house or barn /
or field or fence meets the eye, as we |
drive Onward.-LetteF IN Chicago 1
Post.