St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-09-02
Meaning Not Sand, But the
Wild Camels Of Ari-
IONA.
Turned Loose by Man, They
Have Thriven, and Large
Herds Exist.
The Sport Of Hunting Them
Wild, Exciting and
Dangerous.
When Brought to Bay They
Will Fight Their Foes
Savagely.

In the thick mesquit groves along the
ella river in Arizona, and in the foot-
hills of the White mountain range
northeast of Fort Apache, wild camels
roam in herds, and are often seen by
the traveller far out OH the desert. Ihey
are the descendants of those employed
by the government many years ago In
carrying the mails across the treeless
waste of sand stretching from the Rio
Grande to points beyond the great Mo
jave desert IN California. The oceupa-
ton of those African eXiles having been
usurped in time by the stage coach and
the pony express, they were turned
loose on the ella river to run wild and
free.
They have since rapidly multiplied,
and are regarded as legitimate game by
hunters and lovers of the chase.
1t was in pursuit of these animals that
four men one April morning, a few
months since, lOunged around their
camp fire on one of the atfiuents OF the
ella and in the shadow OF the Whlte
mountains.
peaks above the forest of pine that
clothed the steep activities. In front
of them the sullen desert swept away
in yellow undulationS of verdurelesS
sand. The hot summer twilight, pulSat-
ing in the tremulOuS heat of the desert,
seemed to the weary hunters an atmoS-
phere of flame. All day they had trudged
over plain and foothill on the spoor
of the camel. To stalk the huge
beast, wild and savage as his desert sur
rOundings, involves not only keen sagac-
ity and nerve, but tireleSS endurance.
Wild as the deer, and almost as fleet,
the camel will yet turn at bay when
followed too closely and give dangerous
battle to his pursuerS. Wounded, ne
will fight with courage bordering on
ferocity. 1t is these qualities which
render the chase of the game so allur-
besides, novel and exciting. Only a
few years ago, all officer OF the
ARMY LOST
his life in contest with wounded
camel. Closing in on the game when
the beast had fallen to the shot of his
rifle, he was in the act of applying his
knife to the slim, yellow neck,
when the animal, with cOnyul-
siye effort, regained his feet, and seiz-
ing the officer with his teeth dashed
him to the GROUND, and trampled the
quivering body to death with hOOfS that
cut into the flesh like sword. The
hunters camped on the edge of the
desert that April evening were led by a
famous Arizona hunter, named Foote,
Tom FOote, as he was called far and
near. He has the reputation of being
the most successful camel stalker on
the desert. Over hundred of these
wild animals, it is said, have fallen to
his rifle. And now with three friends
from San Francisco, as eager and reck-
less of danger as himself, and all
equally urgent in acquitting them
selves with distinction in the
stalk before them, the hunters
were camping on the spur of five big
''humps" which they had vainly tried
to overtake before night came upon
them.
''They can't be fur away, anyhow"
Foot was observing to his companions,
land we are almost certain to catch 'em
at daylight"
Don't they travel in the night?"
asked the youngest of the group, a
youth of twenty, his face eager and ex-
pectant as trained hunter OF the
plains.
s'Never. except when they think
there's an enemy on their trail, and
them afore us have no suspicious"
care they out on the deSert?'
Certain! They always sleep in the
sand. And now we'd better turn in if
we're going to be up afore daybreak,
and be after them humps" remarked
the hunter as he carefully spread his
bundle of water and weeds into bed.
The night rapidly fell around them.
The loneliness grew intense, and the
moan of the desert swept by them in
low grueSOme monotone, as il it were
the plant of spirits in the air. The
crimson reflections from the sun which
had a moment before glared in red and
fitful lights upon the low lying clouds,
Wen turning into purple. The tawny
sands were deepening into black. Sour
rying tlecks of grayish clouds shot in
ftful gusts above the horizon. The
desert hawk poised hundreds of feet in
air rested upon slanting, silent wing,
while the plOver's scream grew exu!tant
out upon the bOundleSS plain.
NIGHT ON THE DESERT!
Nowhere else in the world is human
isolation more profound. The bleak
and raylesS woods doomed dark and for
bidding in the back ground, casting
their inky shadows far out upon the
waste beneath them. The tall noun
tains seemed to grow hugely dispropor-
tiOnate in the distance. Cool and dew
less the gathered curtains of the night
wrapped the scene in the wood Splen-
doris of the sleeping desert.
Long before the sun had risen, and
while yet the wide plain lay in the cool
shadows of the night, the hunters were
treading cautiously and silently upon
the spoor of the camelS. For mile or
more the traced the broad track in the
direction of distant water hole. The
game was sure to be some where in its
vicinity. The camel never lies down
on the banks of stream or the edge of
water as it comes to him chastened by
distance. Yet he is sure to be near
enough to get draught of the
REFRESHING LIQUID
without too much eXertion. Within
hundred yards or so of the pool is as
close as he cares to be. By this pre-
caution he keeps out of the way of
dangerous enemies attracted to the pool
by thirst, and enjoys his rest without
disturbance. Foot was, therefore, sure
he would find the game, not at the foot
but short distance from it. And he
did.
Close by a little sand dune the five
camels lay with outStretched limbs at
lazy ease. The hunters. thirty rods
away, came to halt and prepared for
action. By the direction of Foote, they
separated to take positions at the four
points of the compass, and some 200
wards from the common center where
the animals lay. But as they
moved off to accomplish this pur-
pose, one of them Inadvertently
stepped upon the dry limb of
a sage brush, and the noise, although so
slight as scarcely to be heard by his
companions, penetrated the alert senses
of the old ''hump" which led the herd,
and with an angry snort he scrambled
to his feet. BY this time the light of
breaking day was visible and the quick
eve of the beast instantly discerned his