St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1891-05-21

forty miles through the burning Sdnu
of the desert valley, being for two
days without water.
On the 18th of March Prof. c. r.
Merriam, the chief ornithologist of
the department, left here to join the
exploring party which was, after his
arrival, to divide into two parties,
one under him and the other under
Prof. Palmer. He had directed Prof.
Palmer to meet him at Daggett, the
nearest supply station, on the Santa
Fe railroad, and it was on his way
there that Prof. Palmer nearly lost
his. life.
In his report to the department
Prof. Merriam says that he arrived
atDaggett the 2Sth of March. Prof.
Palmer did not reach there till sew
eral days later. He had started
across Death Valley to Daggett, &C
cording to the arrangement, travel
ling by team. One night the team
had broken away, leaving him in the
midst of the desert, with nothing to
depend on but his legs and the supply
of food and water in the wagon,
which. of course, he could not take
with him. He tracked the horses for
forty miles through the desert to a
spring, to which the horses instinct
had guided them.
But before Prof Palmer reached
the spring the horses had gone away,
and he could not follow them further,
having no overcoat, no food, and
only the water at the spring in the
midst of the deadly Mojave desert.
10 II 1ou
food, and he set out and walked sew
entv miles, most of the distance
through the burning sands of Death
Valley to Daggett. He was almost
dead when he reached there, and had
to be sent home at Claremont to re-
cover. 1t is understood that driver
who was with Prof. Palmer was
driven temporarily insane by his ex-
perience in Death Valley.
Prof Palmer is only % years old
and one Of the Agricultural depart
ment's valued scientists. His great
GRANDPA Their was Jeremiah Day, for
mer president of Yale university.
The exploring party sent out last
winter by the Agricultural depart
ment includes, besides Profs. Mer-
Ram and Palmer, two other orni-
biologists, one Mr.. Fisher, from this
city, and the other detailed from
work in the field in Utah; two bot
anists, Mr. F. V. Coville of this city
and Representative Funston's son;
an entomologist from California,
Prof. Koeberle; a signal service Off
Ger, who was sent with the party to
establish a signal station in the
Death Valley region, and a topo-
grapher sent by the Geological Sur
vey to make Typographical survey
of the region, which has never before
been explored. Helpers and others
were added to the party in Califor-
MIA, including Tin Sin, the Chinese
cook.
The party is making study of the
distribution of life in this wonderful
region. Death Valley is an alkali
desert seventy-fve miles long by
thirty wide, sunk 800 feet below the
level of the sea. At one side of it
Mount Whitney rises $4,000 feet
skyward, and the party will en-
deavor to accomplish its ascent as
soon as the snow melts. Death Val
ley is well named. People enter upon
it with scant supply of water, and,
deceived as to distances by the con-
slant mirages, press onward after
their supplies are exhausted. thinking
to reach the pleasant region they see
just before them in the mirage. They
often die of thirst before they discover
that they have been deceived by ma
lures wonderful optical illusion.
The exploring party has sent to
Washington hundreds of valuable
specimens, valuable enough in COM
mercial sense alone, Secretary Will
lifts says, to pay for the expedition.
1t is expected back in August
[ Washington Post