Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-12-06

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get along all day over rough country with such
load as two 150-pound sacks Of "sour-belly"
pork, one sack of -four, a chest OF drawers for
specimens. a tank Of alcohol, . couple ofbeds
| and ct ceteras.
WATER FIRST.
The first thing done will be to locate all the
places where water is to be found. Hundreds
OF people have lost their lives in Death valley
through starting of in the morning without
knowing where they were going to find water
az night There will be no such foolishness as
that INDUCED in by the expedition. With every
precaution sufficient amount Of suffering will
OF necessity have to be undergone. Water is
the great desideratum in that horrible place,
where the air is much drier than that Of the
sahara. and the heat Is so great as TO put the
body through q sort of evaporating process
such as that to which dried apple lie artifcinly
subjected. So rapid is this evaporation Of the
bodily moisture that three gallons Of water
ual instead of the three pints one ordinarily
consumes. IL one were to sit down in the
desert all day long and do nothing but
drink water he would still feel thirsty. Even
with supply Of three gallons day the blood
OF the traveller across the waste becomes thick
ened. the features grow thin and peaked, dread
ful constipation sets in and fever threatens
madness. In crossing the valley one cannot
very well carry with him more than enough
water for one days supply. The only way to
side-only about fifteen miles distant-before
one succumbs for want of drink. If ii is known
precisely in which of the gorges Of the noun
tains springs are to be found il is well enough.
he is likely to become so exhausted after trayel-
ing up to the heads of one or two gorges fruit
lessly as to find nothing better to do than to lie
down and die the most horrible of
deaths. He will not need burial, for his
body will not decay. but will simply be shriv-
eled up to a mummy and lie there in the val
ley of death to all eternity, imperishable star
ing up at the burning sky. Here and there, all
over the awful plain of salt and alkali. are scat
tered and dried bodies Of men and animals pre-
served for all ages to come. During the min
ing fever in that neighborhood from 1872 to
1878, hundreds Of people were lost in trying to
get across. You may have heard Of an "alkali
sink" That il what Death valley is. As has
been said, the plain of the valley is below the
level OF the sea. and the alkaline river flowing
into 1t at certain seasons from the Amargosa
| desert deposits its alkali in the crust, through
which the foot in stepping breaks into the
| abominable paste beneath.
THE WORK OF THE EXPEDITION.
1t will be the work of the expedition to kill
| and capture every sort of living creature that
can be found in Death valley and its surround
ing region. Every specimen of animal life 20
be discovered there viii be represented by from
| dozen to a score Of specimens in the collec-
ton which will be brought back to Washington.
Mammals, birds, reptiles and batrachias will all
be grist to the mill of the naturalists. 1t is
pected that many new species will be secured,
| such as are not at present know to science.
The birds will be shot and the mammals will be
trapped at night. All of the men engaged in
TINS exploration are most expert trappers and
they Will carry with them many dozens of small
steel wire contrivances of q sort that are found
most etfectivo in the capture of all kinds of
little quadrupeds. 1t is not anticipated chat
the valley itself will afford many examples of
animal life, save for reptiles and insects, but in
the mountains and around about the case will
be different. AS for the reptiles they will be
| caught with the hand or by throwing something
over them. Doubtless a valuable assortment
| will be secured of lizards of different colors
| and of the peculiar rattlesnakes with horns
over their eyes, which belong to that country
There are no frogs there, ii is supposed, but
there are some queer desert toads that live in
washes" where there is water for part of each
year. When the water dries up the creatures
bore their way down into the mud deeper and
deeper and when it hardens over them, like so
much brick. they simply stay there buried
| alive until the water comes few months later
| to release them from their baked prisons. The
| entomologist of the expedition will devote his
| attention to gathering the desert beetles, ants
| scorpions. centipedes and the like.
WHAT WILL BE DONE WITH BIRDS AND MAMMALS.
Very particular attention will be paid to the
birds, which, as soon as shot, will be carefully
measured in the flesh. skinned and stuffed on
| the spot. After being stuffed they will be
| packed in the chest of drawers. which are very
| hard to carry on muleback, until they are dry.
Then they will be put into small boxes with
| cotton wool and sent to Washington whenever
q chance offers. Necessarily Communication
will have to be constantly kept up with civiliza-
ton, inasmuch as enough provisions cannot be
carried along at a load in the wagons to last for
! the entire season. The town called Keller at
/ ia i'm Hiafa Mir
utilized between the expedition and the world.
| All the mammals Captured will be treated lust
like the birds. The reptiles will be put at once
| into alcohol Greatest interest will be felt in
| discovering what forms of life are able to exist
in so mad country. Such vegetable life as is
| found there will afford the botanist material
| for his collection. incidentally the mountains
will be explored and covered by the operations
of the parties. 1t is very likely that the ex-
! plorers in crossing the alkali crust will be
obliged to resort to an expedient adopted be-
| fore for the purpose, namely, that Of improvis-
ing snow upon the feet.
| THE FIRST WHITE VISITOR
| The first white man who ever visited Death
valley was Capt. Bendire, who told The STAR man
yesterday that the occasion referred to in 1869
he did not attempt to cross the valley, but sim
| ply skirted around its edge as he expressed it.
| "like a cat on the edge of plate of hot mush."
| The captain is now connected with the Smith
sonian Institution. Notwithstanding his expe-
| rience he expresses a regret that he was not
| going to accompany the expedition, which, he
| thought, promised such interesting results. In
the course of the exploration, by the way. the
ascent is to be made of Mt. Whitney. west Of
Owens lake, which is nearly three miles high
| being the highest peak of the Sierra Nevada
| range, and a thorough study will be made of
| its flora and fauna. Capt. Bendire, while do
| ing the act of the cat on the edge of the plate
| OF mush came across only three dried num-
mics of men in Death valley.
STRANGE FISHES.
Investigation will be made by the expedition
Of the strange fishes that inhabit certain springs
at the south end of Death valley. These are
deep pools and in them are found fish unknown
| elsewhere in the world, which have no eyes,
The whole country thereabout is certainly q
| most extraordinary one. Seventy miles south
of the valley is the so-called Devils play
| ground''-a dreadful desert across which a
wind like a furnace blast continually blows, the
| black lava and hot sand of its great plain
| radiating back the suns heat so that the whole
landscape is tremulous to the eye. Southeast
Of Death valley 100 miles, il 'Dead mountain V
on the side of which thermometer have regis
tered 14O degrees in the shade. On the east
| side the precipitous rocks are much broken up
| and the sun shining on their white points and
angles makes the mountain look from distance
| as il whole conventions Of ghosts were as
| sembled upon it. The Indians believe, on this
| their dead warriors. Hence the name.