Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1871-11-17

Apachcs, in Arizona, gives additional interest to
his latest SKETCH published in APpletons' Jour
nal FOR November Is. Mr.. lorlng was travelling
with Lieut.. Wheelcr's exploring expedition as
correspondent of that Journal. He wrote as fol-
lows, under the title placed at the head of this
article, to which his death 80 soon after gave
singular and unforeseen appropriateness.
EXTRACTS FROM A JOURNAL OF A MARCH
THROUGH THE DEATH vAhhBY or eAbiFoR'
MA AND NEVADA, in 1871.
MONDAY, August 14.-We left Owens Like,
thank Heaven, early this morning. The lake is
a curiosity OF nature. The water is not salt, but
alkaline, and rolls up breakers on its beach like
an apology for Il saltwater cove. 1t covers
about Thirty square miles; and sat and looked
at L, aud tried TO imagine myself at the sea-
side. The water is 80 snponaceous that it
clcanses those who battle in 1t very thoroughly,
which is blessing; bat il is necessary to
wash in some of the little pools around to pre-
vent the skin from becoming inhamed, These
pools are abundant and full OF sulphur-water,
which is all we have to drink, and is particular.
Iy nasty. Around the beach is a black band, a
foot wide and two inches deep, composed of flies,
viii IN feed ON the alkaline crust of the beach,
and in course of time change 10 maggOts, The
Indians eat these, rs they do everything which
has life.
TUESDAY, Aug. 15.-We have guide, an OBJ
iectionable pioneer, mountaineer, miner forty
miner, bear hunter and Squatter. do not like
the class One of them took me for an old part
ncr of his-anOtheT forty Miner who narrowly
escaped being lynchcd-whch was fattcring.
Still, my beard has grown to such an extent that
am not aStOIished at the mistake. told him
that was a forty miner in the world but
seventy oner in California. He asked me to
drink. Whiskey of the worst class, of course
in this locality, too, which might be the wine
raising country OF the world. NV throat not
being rawhide, | ''petered OUT after one swal-
low.
Our guide is a Nimrod or a Munchausen-
perhaps both. He is Ubiquitous in camp, and
has kept me actively engaged all day in moving
my Blankets away from reach of his saliva
the beasil | think do not love the human race
as ought to- lie will tell bear stories, and roar
in imitation Of Il grizzly while doing it, which is
not pleasant Also, he has been giving US
fabulous description OF a water spout. | have
inccnscd him. He told me to-day Of friend of
his, aged forty, who was married to girl OF
eight. | said his friend was brute, which was
not WISE though true.
"Well," said he Eve develop early here in
California. There are seven or eight children
married in Owens valley; and one gal of twelve
has been divorced from her first husband and
married her second" (Spit.) owe develop in
Calilornia-we do"
| remarked that it was disgrace to Califor-
MIA, which was less wise. ! hear now that he
contcmplateS shooting me.
WEDNESDAY, August ia lovely camp in
a rocky canon. IL pays me for coming out here.
running stream through willow trees and
waving grass, with high, rocky sides of yOlcan-
iC rock, covered at their bases with tropical
luXuriance of trailing, delicate vines. Then
barren cragS loom up nearly FIVE hundred feet
The stream breaks in q cascade, sixteen feet
high, which gives such shower bath as never
dreamed of, and then rushes along a quarter of
a mile, and falls in the most perfect silvery
1.s1 4
while the sides of the canon loom up higher and
higher. This beautiful cascade has been named
for our agreeable guide | must not forget the
willow tree under which spread my blankets
last night. 1t is old and biz, and curves so that
its branches and trunk support perfect dome
of foliage.
THURSDAY, Aug five are to lie here in
camp for several days, to rest animals and men
and send exploring parties out into the Death
Valley, which is in front of us, so as to find
cro-sing. | know great deal about the Death
Valley. Every one have met has described it
to me, and the number Of contradictory stories
| have heard is astonishing. A party of immi-
grants were guided by treacherous Mormon
into it, where they persisted miSerably in nearly
a dozen different places. Relics of them are
found yearly by adventurous mountaineers.
They died together in variety of places, all the
way from Belmont to San Diego. The Death
Valley has no wafer, but is full of running
springs. 1t is either four hundred and fifty, or
one hundred and fifty, or one hundred and sew
cnty-fve feet below the level of the sea, or else
ii is not below the level of the sea at all. tick
tends from Belmont in series of plateaus, or
else it is merely the lowest plateau; so that it is
either three hundred or sixty miles long. 1t is
so hot that man cannot cross it at noon or in
the summer; but there are many hotter and in
habited places ON the coast. Our guide goes
away tomorrow. lie is more and mole of a
nuisance every day.
. ,s,nl,t To-
spout, Sheet-lighIning, thunder, breaking of
powders from the mountain side,-lll crash,
and roar, and glare. | ran barefoOted over the
sharp flint stones of the mountain to drive back
some frightened mules, and wondered whether
any of my friends would believe my account of
the scene. The guide did not Sexaggerate; it
was stupenduously terrific. The full force of
the shock did not reach us. These spouts slice
off mountains, open and block up canons and
change the entire course of streams of water
Our guide is indignant that | was not more en-
thusastic, but there are times when a person has
not time TO be enthusiastic.
SATURDAY, Aug. 19.-0ur guide left to-day
with s., TO try some OF the canons on the
west side of the Death Valley for water so that
we can cross over easily to Furnace creek, and
for a short time we shall have a respite from
bear stories
MONDAY, Aug. 2l.-S-- arrived in camp
last night with no guide. He was fraud-such
fraud as only an old mountaneer who pre-
tends to know hecountry can be. After leading
them fairly into the Death Valley, he left them,
as they found he had lost his way. He did not
come back again, and he never will come back.
| sing, like General Boum in ola Grande
DucheSse:"
al ne reviendra pas
to the great delight of an Indian "a heap good
Indian" of course-who is stealing "muck.a-
muck" from us daily. s. and the two men
with him suffered terribly, squeezing the water
out of some mud which they dug up on the
second day, after nearly two days with no wafer.
TUESDAY, August 22.-We started over the
mountains TO the north, and from the summit
of the range looked down over five thousand
feet into the Death Valley, white and poisonous
below-rOcky cliffs on each side Of the canon,
and below this lileless mass of still white soil.
THURSDAY, August 24.-The part which, Of
all my eight months experience in the deserts
of the southwest, | have most dreaded is over
at last, and the Death Valley is behind us. We
are now in the Furnace Creek-appropriately
named, for the wind is hot and dry, the water
tepid, and clothing becomes almost an impOsSi-
bility. But, after yesterday, we are only too
happy over it. suppose the name made our
hardships greater. The Death Valley "hath a
goodly sound and the glimpse of it we caught
the day before yesterday on the mountain-top
gave us lrightful impression oft We passed
some six miles down the rocky canon before we
reached the valley proper, and this was six miles
OF Walking ana cllmDlng, NOT riding. linen
shae and pebbles, and then fat
plain, dead white in color, miry
some places, and whose soil con-
sisted of substance which, as it looked like
salt, and tasted like salt, will call "pulverulent
efforescence." Our water, of course, gave out
Because it was the Death Valley; our thirst was
greater than usual. | could see how boodshot
the mans eyes grew. Then there were wonder
full effects of mrage-lakes, trees and fields
In such cases, sometimes men 90 perfectly crazy,
and "babble of green fields" Luckily, we were
spared this. The thermometer stood at one
hundred and twenty degrees, and [ Just dis
mounted from my mule in time to avoid an at
tack Of Sunstroke, such as Frustrated three of
my companions. There was a wretched little
mesquitbean bush, which, with a iudicious ar
rangement of my mule who was quiet to an UNI
precedented extent, furnished me with little
shade, in which | lay until shutdown, when [
started for Furnace Creek. There can be little
doubt that the Death Valley is at least three
hundred feet below the level of the sea. Its
heat is its greatest terror, for there is abund-
ance of water in the canOns which open into its
western side, so that thirst is to be feared more
from the concealment than the scarcity of
the springs But its beauty is evil, and though
it is picturesque, it is irightful | trust / may
never have to pass through it again.
FRED. W. LoRING.