Morning journal and courier., 1891-10-12

tense and the draught up the valley of the gulf and over the desert is immense in vol ume. It is to the high winds we owe the great sand dunes and the abrasive effects of sand upon the rocks and pebbles around the old lake.
 The desert is generally supposed to be rainless region, and it is so practically, but have seen several inches of snow over its surface.
 There is very little vegetation of any | kind; yet along the channel of New River there are mezquite trees, and formerly | ter could be had there by digging down l some twenty feet. On the upper gravelly plain there are struggling growths of the shrub, Larrea Mexicana, and in the rav- ines towards the Colorado and along the slopes to the desert the Fouqueria spinosa and the palo verde grow freely. Wherever
 water can be had, the soil of the bed of
 the old lake is remarkably fertile. This is
 well shown at some of the railway sta
 tions and at the oases.
 A recent copyrighted article upon the
 overflow, from Washington, signed J. w.
 Powell, am pleased to see is illustrated
 by my geological map and some of my
 sketches; but it is mistake to represent the
 cereus giganteus, the giant cactus, and the
 opuntia cactus asgrowing upon the desert,
 for the cereus giganteus does not grow
 west of the Colorado, and the opuntia
 sketch was taken in the region of Los An
 geles and the plant does not occur upon
 the desert. It is also mistake to attrib-
 ute the name Vermillion sea, given by the
 old missionaries to the gulf, to the red
 silt of the Colorado, which is soon dropped upon meeting salt water, when there is every other reason to conclude that the name was bestowed from the fact that the water at certain seasons appears vermll- lion red, owing to the immense quantities of peculiar red plant or fungus. It not only colors the sea, but is thrown up in profusion upon the pearly beaches and makes a red border line.
 The phenomena of the mud volcanoes of the desert are extremely interesting, and since the flood these vents have had increased activity, and they may owe this ! to the influx of water. There was also @ violent disturbance attended by earth quake shocks in 1853. It is possible that l there have been considerable changes ot | level of portions of the desert surface near l the river which might explain some of the phenomena of flooding. By right of 1 discovery and of first description of the | ancient lake have named it Lake Cohu- ! fila from the tribe of Indians living in the | valley and likely soon to be extinct. ! Travellers from Yuma to San Bernardino, | taking their ease in & Pullman car with ! cooling drinks and ice at hand can form | no conception of the heat and distress of | a ride of ninty miles across the Colorado | desert on the back of mule with an un- 1 clouded sun, no shade and the mercury at l 115. VIM. F. BLAKE. ! THE HORRORS AND WONDERS OF THE COLORADO DESERT.
 Weird indeed are the descriptions sent
 by the present expedition to Death Valley
 respecting scenes and experiences in that
 strange alkai sink. But even Death Val
 ley is nothing, as to heat and picturesque l ness, when compared with the Colorado
 Desert. It covers g, 1000 square miles, and
 more than quarter of this area, space
 of 100 miles long by an average width oi
 twenty-five miles, is below the level of
 the ocean. In some parts it's bottom if
 230 feet below tide-water. Reliable
 authorities assert that it is the most in
 tensely hot spot on the face of the earth ! the Sahara is nowhere compared with it It's surface may fairly be said to be strewr
 lost their lives there. Expedition after
 expedition has been lost in attempts te
 cross it.
 A few years ago railway train broke down in the Colorado desert. By tht
 sheerest good luck the station was only
 three-quarters of mile away, but even 1T
 walking that short distance many of tht : passengers were badly affected by the in
 tense heat and some were prostrated. Th' thermometer stood at 1260 in the shade , l And the railroad merely skirts the edge O.
 the desert
 The whole desert waste is horrible , place to get astray in, owing to the grea heat, the lack of water, the mirages whicl
 falsely inspire the traveller with hope, ant , l the bones of dead animals and men, whicl
 terrify the sensitive mind. It is regiol , l of despair. All sorts of illusions deceiv , 1 the eye. A man far away on the plain az a | sumes gigantic stature, and mountains be
 low the horizen rise into view.
 The northern portion of the desert , paved with the most wonderful pebbles i [ the world-in many parts so exquisitel laid ss to defy successful imitation by tn 2 most skilled worker in mosaic flooring l These pebbles are made of porphyry g agates, caInelian, quartz crystal, garnets e chrysolite and other beautiful materials. II Fast Time With Ease. 2 A special train was run on tho Consol @ dated road Saturday from this city to Mol l ris park and some very fast time was mad g during the trip, rate as high seventy , two miles an hour being attained and hel v for several miles with ease. The train COT sisted of Henney engine, No. 131, Engir ' eer Haenig in charge, one drawing FOOT , and an observation car.
 3 Among the railroad men on the trai } were General Manager Futile, Superintend ent Shepard of the New York division Superintendent Davidson of the Hartfor s division, General Passenger Agent Hemr q stead, Chief Engineer Fayette s. Curtis ' and Press Agent Major Isaac H. Bromley
 Fifteen to twenty representative news . paper men from this state as guests, mad z up the balance of the party. The ru from this city to Bridgeport was particu 5 larly noticeable for it's speed, several shar
 curves now and then giving decided i'm ' | pression that the train was un der grea impetus. The run of seventeen miles an a half was made in ninteen minutes Faster running, however, was made in tn section between Portchester and Ne, ! Rochelle, where the four track system i U complete. On this section run of te and half miles was made in eight an three-quarter minutes and so marked wa the difference in riding that the speed wa ( uot uotlcleo Dy those WnO were not pay :. ing particular attention. Engineer Haeni 5 when complimented on the run remarked "Oh, that's easy. I could hay
 done better but had to slow u on account of signals" This onl 3 goes to show that when this great work o ? four tracking and strengthening the roat reaches this city, a party can ''slide" int z New York before having time to fnisl | reading his paper and without havin, :, strained his eyes to follow the lines O print.
 The fast time alluded to above was b, no means the result of an attempt to se what could be done, but it was the pur pose to convey the party to Morris Park and it was not the intention to do any ! ! loafng on the way.
 DEDICATION
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