The Pascagoula democrat-star. (Pascagoula, Miss.) 1878-1920, 1891-11-13


narrow gulch, and beyond i; a
sheer wall of many hundreds ol
| feet high. Still the top of his was
| lower than we were, and we could
| look down upon the Table Of Dead
| Men The mesa on The other side
OF The gulch seemed perfectly level,
and as far as the eye could Judge
was surrounded on all sides by
just such a precipice as we saw.
The country is all sand tone, and
the swift little rivers have nearly
all worn deep channels for them
selves. In many localities you can
walk a hundred miles, be able to
throw a stone into The river and
YET you may die Of thilst, so high
and erect are those fearful walls.
The Chlhuandassi was covered
with some low vegetation and there
were a few trees in the distance.
"'lhat is the flower that travels,
said my companion.
"He noticed my look of amused
incredulity, and resumed rather
angrily.
You don't believe it? | have
seen ii move. Look therep
Il looked, the table was agitated
and looked like the waves of the
sea. The whole green surface
seemed to approach the edge near
est us. My halr rose for a moment,
then ! burst out laughing. 1T is
onl y the wind tossing The snake
weed | said.
"'But there is no wind here
Gle spoke truly. The air where
we stood was perfectly still. Yet,
| explained, it might be a breeze
engendered by the nature of the
country that did not extend to our
side.
mo, no. he insisted, fhe In
dians who have lived here for years
know better. These flowers are
devils. No one who goes over
ever comes back from there
1.-TWO Indians who loved one
woman went up on the Chihuan-
dasSi to battle. Human eyes never
again saw them alive. We are
told that they fell victims TO the
flower that creeps.
IL had iirst-class pair of glasses
with me and I directed them 10 the
plateau. Half covered with vines
and creepers | could see something
white. There were two spots that
might be skulls, and | thought |
could trace the outlines of two hut
man forms. They might have been
rocks, and were doubtless what
originated the Indian legend.
'An idea suddenly occurred 10
me that this story of certain death
10 whoever went up TO that noun
lain top was a story of the Indians
TO prevent any one gong there.
"I'll bet a horse SAID !, that
the mine is there, and I'm going TO
see.'
"Well, TO cut it short, | left him
there, and with one mule started
for the Chihuandassi. | calculat.
ed that | could get around in three
days, and | told him to camp there
and wait for me. 1t was nasty
work getting down inio the river
bed, but | did it before night, and
had The satisfaction of camping on
an old trail that night. Early The
next morning | entered a fissure al
the base OF The lone mountain. 1t
was Il dry water course, not more
than dozen feet wide, and wound
around between high sandstone
walls. 1t was, however, cOmpara
lively free from brush, and got
along famously for time. There
were many ralIlesnakes and cen
tipedes along the old water course,
but nothing more.
IL had been going up the ole |
channel for probably four hours,
getting higher every step. The |
walls Of The water course were
getting lower, and at this point was
not more than forty feet below the
surface. AS | turned sharp
bend, however, | came right up
against a bowlder that completely
filled the creek. The trail ended
there. 1t appeared as if The rock
had recently rolled down 10 where
it lay.
II thought that If | could climb
over il | could continue on up the
water course. So | starte1 10
climb. The bowlder was rough
enough Tor me TO gain holds for my
hands and fee., and though il was
slow, hard work, and 1 often
slipped back, at last | managed 10
surmount il and stood on Top. To
my intense surprise | found myself
within a dozen feet of the floor Of
the mesa, and just above me one
arm of the giant cactus | had seen
from the other mountain. Then
determined, instead of continuing
in The dry creek bed, TO scale the
wall and so reach the mesa, where
expected The find the silver mine.
"The sandstone was soft and
had a strong knife. Besides, al
ihe edge saw some vines hanging
over that looked strong enough to
bear my weight if | succeeded in
reaching them. So | began 10
climb The wall.
"At last | grasped the hanging !
vines.
.sTha s,ems wore cnyered with