The Yazoo sentinel. (Yazoo City, Miss.) 1878-1916, 1891-09-10
THE COLORADO DESERT
THE WEIRD WASTE WHERE A
SEA HAS FoR11ED.

Floor Of Gems.
The Colombo desert. great part 81
which has been TRANSFORMER Lotto an IN
land sea, may soon be explM b. the
government. Ol late the arlment OF
Agriculture has been deyDt#g much 81
its attention 70 investigating the waste
regions Of the United States with n view
70 hnding out what things dnimal ana
vegetable live 10 them. 100 years ag0
the so.callcd Painted Desersof Arizona
was the object Of inquiry, MI, in ad
dition 70 geological and botanical speci-
mems for enriching collections, vivid pic
lures were brought back Of that red
expansc Of barrcpness, with ~ scattered
cling Of rainboD Iues, topped by heaps
Of fossil wood, and its Mpl storms,
threatening the hickless traveller with
their towering columns Of whiding sand
dancing over the plain. *.
Not less weird arc the descfiptions
sent by the present expedited u, Death
Valley respecting scenes aud exp efiences
10 that strange alkali sink. But even
Death Valley Is nothing az tYNheat aud
pictnresquencss when compared with the
Colorado Desert which was tie Original
tornado del Muerto, or Valley Of Death
Of the liexicans That region is 200
miles south OF the so.called Death Val
ley in almost a straight line, being that
much nearer the equator, and is con-
siderably deeper hole. Ii covers 1000
square miles and more than d quarter OF
this area, a space 100 miles long by an
average width Of twenty-five miles, is
below the level Of the ocean. In some
parts its bottom is $50 feet below tide
water. Reliable authorities assert that
ii is the most intensely hot spot on the
face OF the earth the Sahara is no.
where compared with it. Expedition
after expedition has been lostin attempts
TO cross II. Prof. Gilbert Thompson, Of
the Geological Survey, tells Of an oc-
casion some years ago when a railway
train on which he was passenger broke
down in tho Colorado Desert. BY good
luck the nearest station was only three
quarters OF mile away, and number
Of people started out to walk the distance
over the ties. Before reaching their
destination twelve Of them were struck
down by the heat, so that rescuing
party had to DO sent out for them. The
thermometer stood at 1875 degrees in the
shade. Under such conditions people
cannot live long witeout copious draughts
OF water. The water in the blood dries
rapidly, and all the secretions OF the
body thicken.
1t might be said that this tornado del
Muerto is the ideal desert Of The world.
In no other OF the earth's most fearful
wastes can be found such natural CON
ditions OF ideal horror. Even the mirage,
telnpter Of the dying travellers despair,
reaches more extraordinary develop
ment there than anywhere Csc One
can behold in the Colorado Deskf where
all is hopeless misery, beaatiH lakes,
tempting verdure. aud even I, hs with
houses and churcle within Instances
apparently small A -
The explorer who Is bold enough to
venture into This region for purposes Of
investigation is struck, TO begin with,
with the weirdness Of finding himself
walking in what was once the bed OF the
ocean, hundreds OF feet lower doFn than
Ncptunes waves are flowing few miles
away. He knows that this bfaHch of
the sea subsequently became an inland
lake. and it is with interest that ID looks
upon the shores Of what waSssrstwhile
mighty body of water. A Great shallow
lake it was ages ago, and the rocky
banks which enclosed it still remain
cliffs Of imperishable stone, with the
aneient water marks still on them.
When water was there the lime which it
contained was gradually deposited on
Al L.. a.. So elntfcop1e ~
so that now the cliffs are coated with it
three feet thick in many parts, and one
is thus enabled to observe Just how high
this strange inland reservoir threw its
waves in times gone by.
Its bed TO day may we'll afford a study
10 the seeker after marvels, as well as TO
the geologist Ii is desert wonder
land. Imagine plain of clay, mouot-
onously level. relieved here and there by
hills Of sand built in beautiful wave
like outlines These hills are not sta
tionary; they travel constantly, though
slowly, journeying over the plain as the
winds direct. The sand Of which they
are composed is not like ordinary sand.
Most OF the grains are transparent,
others are translucent, while many are OF
rainbow hues. being in fact small gems
of red carnelian. green chrysolite, and
vari-co!oIed garnet Beneath a micro
scope they are most interesting. A
majority of them are perfect spheres,
rounded and polished by attrition with
one another. When mixed with Ger
tain acid they efiervesce like Seidlitz
powders. Composed OF these strangely
wrought materials the sand hills look
like great snow drifts, with here and
there a CLEAN Of color
In some parts Of the desert, here and
there. water boils up from springs,
which are surrounded by circular hill
locks Of carbonate Of line from four TO
eight feet IN height. the material Of
which has been deposited from the how
ing fluid. The latter is 20 highly
chaiged with gas that il is very difficult
to keen corks IN bottles flled with H. Il
seems queer to End in such desolate
country real soda water fountains sup
piled bv nature. Syrups are not offered
K order. unfortunately. The lime de
posted on the rocky shores was con
trihutcG by such springs as these, bub
bling up from what was then the bottom
Of the lake.
The atmosphere Of she desert Is 50
clear. owing to the absence Of moisture
that small objects a. 8 great distance
-. - k..1 All tawfk ~ illusions