The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1879-08-26
Among the Giant Cacti.

Resuming our journey In New Mex
leo wesoon entered the land Of giant
cacti, Was never more surprised than
at seeing the wonderful development of
this plant In this region. Am satisfied
that nowhere In the world such size Is
attained. The specie called Swatara
grows to the enormous height of sixty
feet and measures six feet in diameter.
Thore are tens of thousands Of this
specie. Most of them will measure
from eight inches to two feet In diam
eter and reach height Of tweHtw to
thirty feet. Sons have 10 iiu, t,s and xe-
senble gh PC others have from
one to three arm i. They seem to stand
on the top Of the sand, with scarcely
any root, and MI t receive their nu-
triton largely from tho atmosphe re.
They are capped with beautiful flow
or and then with fruit. The Indians
remove the fruit with Il long spike pole
and used 1t In large quantities. The
centre Of this cactus is pierced with a
hard, tough rod, which supports it In
times of storm. SO firm Is this support
that ono is seldom found broken or
blown to the earth. When in state of
decay you can extract tho center of sup
port, which resembles more than any
thing else fishing rod. There are
fifteen or twenty different species Of
cacti growing III this region. The pole
cactus grows much like large corn
stalk. Each years growth Is indicated
by a joint, and a rich tenacious gum
exudes from the surface, causing 1T to
burn like pine when it Is entirely
green. There are two varieties Of what
is called the bulb. These grow in the
form Of ball and nearly the size of
pint cup. The one variety Is armed
with thorns half an inch in length, the
other with a different kind Of thorn,
much resembling and about the length
ofa porcupinc's quill. These thorns are
as sharp as needles, and require but
littlo pressure to penetrate their entire
length into the foot Of man or the
hoof Of horse. THERE'S strong, tall
bird OIL these plains called the road
runner, so-called because it Is very
fleet Of foot and frequently runs on tho
road, before the stage. 1t is the nat
ural enemy of the tarantula and rattle
these animals asleep it surrounds the
unconscious creature with wall or
hedge of this prlckly plant, and then,
to awake 1t. trows one over on its body.
The animal writhing in pain, attempts
to escape, but In the effort meets ter
rible death. The variety having tho
short thorns henrs a red-cOlored fruit,
very sweet and the juice flows from a
gold pen rs beautiful rod ink. There
is another species which bears Il differ
ent kind Of fruit resembling Il cucum-
ber about two-thirds matured. The
pulp is Of the consistency of the BAN
ana, but much sweeter and very full
Of black, flat sceds, the size Of dino.
AZ far as l have been able to ascertain
thcre.are three kinds Of fruit growing
on as many different species of cacti In
this desert land. Another kind, priced
more than all tho rest by the Indians,
very much resembles our century plant
The wild Apaches have for ages de-
pended largely on this sustenanoe.
They boil the root, make it into mush,
and thus cat 1t and from tho balance Of
the plant make a sour drink, which
they greatly enjoy. Much more might
he said Of this interesting plant, but l
will return 10 our line Of travel. AS
the sun asccnds toward the meridian
the heat becomes intense. The ther-
momcter in these valleys stands part
Of the day a. 1870 degrees. Our cam
teens are often pressed to our lips, and
we saturate Il handkerchief with cold
water and lay 1t upon tho top Of the
head, and, laying aside our hats, COM
NIT ourselves to the cooling effects Of
the evaporation. Thus the tourist may
save himself from sunstroke or brain
fever. ..
Use of Ice.