The herald., 1893-06-11
PROSPECTING ON THE DESERT,
The Gold Hunters at Home and
on the Road.
veatures About the Life Lead by
Fortune Searchers.
soms Facts Aboat the Men who Brave
the Deserts Heat and the Tor
lures of Thirst I'm Their
Work for Wealth.


scarce find footing, NE tolls ceaeeleseiy
on. Is the water in the canteen hot and
slimy, was the pool from which he filed
1t full OF wigglers2 1t matters not; he
would not exchange IL for the most ia
nous of Gaul's vintsges, it Is sweeter
than the nectar brewed for the gods on
the heights Of Olympia, it ia more pre-
cious than the yellow metal for which
he is jeopardizlng his life.
Priceless az lie this boarded fluid, he
shares it with bis companion, the pa
tent burro, and aB tbia twin arg0naut
in search OF the golden fleece licks the
last drop from the gold pan, his maater
computes the distance to the next tank
and makes q calculation baned on the
last rainfall as to whether it will con
tain water or not.
The desert prospector relies on getting
water from what are called "tanke."
These are rocky basins, often out under
waterfalls, and where the floor is com
posed OF rock or heavy clay Che pool will
remain, according TO conditione, from
few DAYS TO several month";. The ietid
character in which these pools are often
found IL termed by prospectora as rot
ing" and according to these men's
statements tank OF WI Ter will clear
itself and become sweet after the rotting
process is over, only to rot agaio. and 30
on indefinitely, as long "a any ter re-
mains in the basin.
Our fine haired aristocrate who clip
their mocha, clad In broadcloath and
elk underwear, would probably turn
up their moses II offered a awig OF tank
water at 30 degrees, full OF strange bugs
and favored with the remains OF the
coyote that has fioated for weeks on It's
surface. Youa prospector turns up hie
nose at nothing, he and the burro ere
not 90 particular and drink from the
came wsterhole just the same as II they
were brothers.
The desert proHpector Ia peculiar to
the southwest. In California ami
Alaska il never occurs to the gold hunter
that the number OF hours which he has
TO live can be computed by the amount
OF water in his canteen his pack ami
NAL never halts and shifts the air with
scent made keen by thirst; no giant
cactus rises before him with raised arms
like some sentinel sent from heaven to
turn him back before IL is everlastingly
too late.
Your prospector is never one of the
400. The swallow tail and its adjunct
the broad expanse OF shirt front--he
considers weakness which come men
have; as for him, ordinary overalls are
good enough, and his canvas coat serves
him for a pillow while he lies under the
stars, cureing hiH luck for selling the
Consolidated Doubloon for grub stake,
and wondering whether he will ever
strike 1t rich again.
The hobbled burro feeds hard by.
The brittle cage brueh does not 90
down his gullet with that emoothness
distinctive of we'll cured alfalfs. but
everything Is fodder that comes to the
burro's net, and as for his capacity for
finding water, he knows more about
that process than the man who drives
him. After all means fall after every
hope has fed, give the burro his choice
Of traile, and that keen scent OF HE, /
which seems to grow stronger as his
thirst intensifes, will lead him TO
water II it exiate within the scent line.
And then the triumphant return to
the Quitting point. The burro ia
treated to bale of hay, not cage
brush and cactus, but genuine stuff at
500 ton. The proepector throws
few beers into himself and goes the
rounds to show his specimens. Happy
Jack, the barkeeper who has grub
etaked him, elaps him on the back in
front of a whole saloon full OF people
and declares him to be the best judge
of prospects in the territory, which
statement Bwelle him with pride until
he feels az tight a akin on him az the
horned toad thatswallowed whirlwind
and Fanchette, she OF the half world,
begs him for the crystal, half quartz,
half gold, which was all he got for his
labor on a 20-foot shaft, but Fanchette
aske for it so softly that even the crickets
do not hear, and when he slips it into
her hand, blushing like culprit, she
tells him "thank you" with her eyes
while he, thinking of Nanette the good,
whom he has promised to wed, wonders
if the immediate atmosphere would not
have been filed with Fanchette's red
hair could Nanette have beheld the
transfer of the crystal.
As n rule to which there are but few
exceptions prospectors seldom become
owners of valuable mines. For the most
part grub staked, they are not in position
to develop prospects,. Many valuable
mines in Arizona, as elsewhere, have
been sold for a song by the men who first
struck the vein. Often prohigate, a.
ways poor, they furnish an exhibit u
perseverance observable in no other llIe
of life. There seems to be fatality at
tached to their lives that bids them
delve among the rocks. Often fitted by
education aud capacity for business life,
they seem involuntarily follow the
trend of their mission, which eompels
them to burrow in the mountains heart
and waeh out the stream bed in their
gold pans.
On the Colorado desert prospectors
meet the eeverest conditions that can be
imposed, yet it does not seem to deter
them in their search for the yellow
metal. Every little while the papers
contain an account OF some uufortunates
who are found dead on the desert, and
we all know the rest. The tank which
they relied on was dry, the trail back
could not be covered, the last drop was
gone from the canteene; the fiery ECu
shining pitilesely from the copper 81!
echoed back their mprecations and the
prayers. With black and swollen tongue.
protrnding from their cracked lips they
writhed like serpents on The sand. The
heated rocks in the shimmering air
grew into castles where fountains
played, the cactus reared itself like
miusrets on Mahomet's temples-snd
under them lay the dead men, whose
prayers came echoing back from the
merciless eky-under the giant cactus
whose arms reached out to God in dumb
despair, face down on the heated earth
dead.
Possibly no fata inorganic has lured