The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1892-05-14
Odd Ways of Getting Water.

From the New York sun.
When Mr.. David Lindsay returned from
his expe lition across part of the Austria
lian desert while ago, he said the whole
of that almost waterless country was in
habited by natives who get their water
supply by draining the roots OF the malice
tree, which yield quantities of pure water.
This tree, absorbing moisture from the air,
retains it in considerable quantities in its
roots and thus makes it possible to live in
an arid region, which would otherwise be
uninhabitable.
There are people in other parts of the
world who get their supply of water in
peculiar way. The explorer Coudreau,
for instance, found while ago, while
wandering among the Tumuc-Humac
Mountains, in the wesern part of Guiana,
that it was not necessary for his men to
descend to creek when they wanted drink
of water A vine known as the water vine
is found all through that region. Ityield an
abundant supply of excellent drinking fluid
whenever it is called upon. This vine
grows to a height of sixty to ninety feet
1t is usually about as thick as the
upper part of the human arm. 1t
winds itself loosely around trees, chambers
up to their SUBMITS, and then falls down
perpendicularly to the ground, where it
takes root again.
The natives cut this vine off at the
ground and then, at height of about six
or seven feet, they cut it again, which
leaves in their hands very stout piece OF
wood a little longer than themselves. In
order to obtain its sap they raise the lower
end of the vine upon some support and
apply the upper end to their mouths. The
section of the vine, while showing a
smooth, apparently compact surface, is
pierced with many little veins, through
which the sap flows freely. Six feet of
the vine gives about pint of water, which
is slightly sweet to the taste. Coudreau
say that it quenches thirst as effectively as
water from the most refreshing brook.
The bushmen in the Kalahari Desert
often live scores of miles from places where
water comes to the surface. During a
certain part of the year sharp storms pass
over the Kalahari, covering the apparently
arid region with the brightest of verdure
and filling, for few short days the water
courses with roaring torrents. The BUSH
men know how to find water by digging in
the bottoms of these dried up river beds.
They dig hole three or four feet deep
and then tie sponge to the end OF hol-
low reed. The sponge absorbs the mois-
ture at the bottom of the hole, and the
natives draw it into their mouths through
the reed, and then empty it into calahashes
for future use.
The animals that inhabit such wastes as
the Kalahari are of course accustomed to
living upon very small and infrequent sup
plies of water. The Bechuana do not lead
their cattle to the drinking place oftener
than once in two or three days. is said
that goats in the Kalahari frequently pass
months without water, and, according to
Mr., Mackenzie, there are certain antelopes
which are never seen to visit the drinking
places.
In that enormous waste known as the
Cobb Desert, north of China, showers
sometimes fall during the summer, and the
torrents of day fill the dried up water
courses through which water seldom runs.
1t is in these channels that the MongOls
dig their wells, expecting to find little
water, when upon the surface of the
plateau itself the soil has lost all traces of
humidity. 1t is owing to the fact that a
part of the moisture failing during few
rainy days is thus preserved within reach
that it is possible for caravans to cross the
desert.