The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1886-08-18
A WESTERN SAHARA.
A VAST EXPANsE OF STERILE
COUNTRY IN CALIFORNIA.
Inhabited Only by Coyotes, Lizards
and Snakes-Miniature Vol
canoes Mirage and
Sand Storms.

Occupying the southeastern angle Of
California is vast expanse of dry and
sterile country, th, northern portion of
which is known as the Mohave Desert,
and the southern as the Colorado Desert.
In the absence of natural landmarks, the
dividing line between the two is little
indefinite. They are, however, about
equal in extent, and cover altogether
some thirty thousand square miles; their
exterior boundaries, except on the east,
where they border on the Colorado River,
being not very sharply defined.
The summer heat on this California
Sahara is more than tropical. The ther-
mometer during the day marks from 1875
to 13O degrees in the shade. Topograph-
ically. this region may be described as a
lcw-lying plain, the greater part of it be-
ing elevated but little above sea-leyel,
while some portions are depressed below
that level. Scattered over this plain are
clus: ers of basaltic mountains, dark and
scraggy: isolated buttes, low, irregular
hills and ever-shifting ridges of sand.
The plain itself is of a sedimentary or
marine origin; the more elevated lands
have resulted from igneous agencies.
These buttes are, in fact, nothing but
the cones of dead volcanoes, and the de-
pressed surfaces simply the beds of dried
up seas.
There are two of these low lying basins
within the limits of this southeastern
wilderue 8. One, the site of the salses,
or mud volcanoes, is situated on the
Colorado Desert, in the vicinity of Dos
Palmas Station, on the Southern Pacific
Railroad. The other, known as Death
Valley, is located on the northern border
of the Mohave Desert, 200 miles further
to the north. The former is seventy feet
below the level of the sea, and the latter
$50. The two cover an area of several
thousand square miles. In the basin of
the salses. miniature volcanoes forming
and dissolving, and the hot gases escap-
ing from innumc!able vents, denote
there the continuance of feeble sofia
tar C action.
Owing to the presence of extensive
salines, and the rapid evaporation that
here occurs, the mirage is frequently
seen on these deserts, appearing some.
times in great perfection. These optical
illusions take on here not only the SEM
bance of real objects, but also at times
many weird and fantastic forms. Lying
off in the hay atmosphere are seen
what seem to be pellucid lax 8, dotted
with islands and indented with head
lands. Stretching away in the mist are
green meadows and groves, with palatlal
10 1nfo
While we look, the scene undergoes
strange Transformation, and taking on
less familiar and pleasing shapes, slowly
fades away-cloud and of youth-em-
b!em of human hope!
A popularity Of this wilderness eli.
mate is the sand-storm, a meteorological
phenomenon not unlike the simeon
that prevails in Arabia and other parts Of
Africa. It cons SITS Of strong wind,
amounting sometimes to gale, coming
up with black cloud that obsclres
the sun, fills the atmosphere so COM
plete.y with sand and dust that vision is
obscured, thirst greatly increased, and
respiration rendered extremely difficult.
The sitting air, the darkness, the
stranrcness OF the entire surro lndings,
fill the traveller with dread that in
clnes him to stop and shelter himself as
best he can f.om the effects of the gale.
Even animals are so oppressed with fear
when exposed to the srocco that they
stop in their tracks and obstinately re-
fuse to go.
Having ragged for day or two, the
wind ceases to blow, the dust clouds set
tie, the air clelrs up, and the sun, shin.
in Q cut with its accustomed fiercencss,
restores TO the leaden sky its former
bra-en aspect. Swept by the blast, the
sand dunes shift like tn; pillows of the
ocean, vanishing in o%e place and reap
pcaring in another with each recu ring
tempest. These simoons, though hardly
less terrifying than the thunder storms
that visit in the summer time countries
further east, are by no means so refresh
ing.
Very misleading to the stranger are the
maps of this region, with their arroyos
and rivers, their lakes and springs, laid
down thereon at convenient intervals.
1t is we'll to supply, as far as may be, the
Deficiencies of nature, wherever we find
them; wherefore, one appreciates the
motive of the topo, ,Iapher in lis en-
deavor to represent this arid and for
bidding country as it should be, even
while one has to lament that these ad :
di ions are almost wholly mythical. The
only stream of any size in this entire
Edom is the so-called Mohavc River,
which os If abashcd at the unmerited
hoaor confer ed u on it, Eastens to hide
: itself in the sand, asserting its presence
thereafter only in series of modest
pools, which, standing apart along its
family marked bed, grow smaller and
smaller, and finally disappear altogether:
Of the few springs that have an actual
existence here the water in some IS so
impregnated with salt, soda or other
deleter:.ous mineral that it is wholly un-
tit to drink.
Traversing these d,serts, more particu-
larly in the ncighborhood of the noun
tains arc numerous deep ravincs, having
steep sides and broad, evenly sloping
bottoms. They arc the creations of the
cloud-burs!s which are not uncommon
here and which, when they occur, fill
these channe's with water in very few
minutes. The flood, which soon sub
sides, carries down great quantities Of
sand and gravel; but thc 6 eater potion
is sw.pt down and deposited at its
mouth, where it forms moraines stretch
ing far out in'o the plain below. A raw
inc so erodcd and a!terward partially