The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-11-18
PHENOMENA OF NATURE.
Remarkable Feature of Death Valley,
One of CALIFORNIA; Wonders.

FROM the llttSburg Dispatch.
That weird and grewsome spot in Inyo
county, California. has again been brought
into prominence by Special Agent II. f.
Martin Of the United States land office.
who was detailed to explore this region
of horrors. This remarkable valley.
which has no fair counterpart on earth,
lies in the southeast corner of the state.
touching Nye county, Nevada The de-
preston proper lies southeast and north
west, 10 miles wide and 81 miles long.
about 200 feet below sea level with the
Pacific ocean 200 miles distant, but with
lofty mountains intervening. II is a re-
gion that represents unfinished creation.
and exhibits such conditions as once pre-
vailed when the earth's crust was thinner
and the Internal gaseousness and pent up
heat came more freely to the surface
through riffs in the rock. and ere the
great glacial planning action had ground
and sheared off the elevations and slfted
the detritus as soil over the lower hills
and valleys
Its name was given back In the days of
the Argonauts, in 1850, when an overland
wagon train of 30 persons. on their way
to the gold mines. passed through Nye
county, assembled the Funeral mountains,
then down into this valley. where % Of the
number died OF heat and thirst.
Agent Martin dwells with great empha-
sis on the treachery and deIusiveness
that seem to be in everything pertaining
to the region. The surface Is a waste of
sand and salt, the temporal ure is 1870 de-
greeSs and nature presents no shade what
ever MiraGes of most startlingly delu-
sive character present themselves. gush-
ifttF
tures-ali this, only to vanish as the
traveller would approach.
At night the fauna peculiar to the re-
gion comes forth. all in keeping with the
diabolical surroundings; all like so many
imps from the Inferno. Lizards APP
preaching n yard in length come with an
ambling squirm from their hot burrows
under the alkali crust; rattlesnakes wrig-
gle along their way; horned toads scor-
pions and huge tarantulas-all are now in
quest of prey. Here may also be found
that most hdeous, loathsome and wretch
ed Of all American reptiles, the ella mon
ster. Even the mammalia seem crossed
with the reptilia; all are abnormally
armed. and most of them are intensely
venOmous.
There are rats with wonderful ears bull
ging out at right angles from the head as
If showed to that position by an abnormal
development Of the organ Of combative-
ness, but which are probably so placed to
enhance the sense of hearing in that end
less silence. Then there are both rats
and mice constructed on the kangaroo
style of architecture. with powerfully
musCled hindlegs and no forelcgs to speak
of, and which go their way with great
speed with a succession OF vigorous hops
There is n curious mouse that feeds
entirely on scorpions, but has an imbued
instinct to avoid the defensive stinger
tnn toll tgytl.
in vain. There Is another little rodent
known as the grasshopper mouse which
lives ON that many-legged and TepulsiVe
creature known as the centipede and
still another, with pouch on each side
Of the throat-al these flourish in this
uncanny depression.
The snakes do not attain to large size,
but their venom Is most intense. There is
a little RATHER not more than two feet
long. whose bite. IL is said, will prove fatal
inside Of five minutes A little serpent
peculiar to this valley, and found nowhere
else i'm America, IL a RATHER seldom ex-
ceeding eighteen inches in length, with a
horn over each eye. and which In kuowu
by the name Of "Sldewinder." This in
teresting reptile does not crawl in the
usual snake fashion by developing a
series Of sinuOus curves, bllt II executes
1ops from side TO side, and by n system Of
zie-zags that impress the beholder as rath-
er comical. II prOpels itself forward The
warning Of its diminutivo rattle Is almost
AZ faint as an echo, but the sting Of its
fangs w. almost instantly fatal.
There is not a particle of humidity in
this torrid atmosphere and thirst at
once seizes the traveller that II most ex-
cruciatinR In its intensity There is a fear
ful record Of deaths in this poisonous dis
trict and IN oil cases the saltlsh pools
that almost boil I'm the tropical heat but
In ri al of % pOlgOnOtie rompOuud Ia IN
die Mr.. Martins party found that po-
tatoes rotted a. once as soon as they
entered the valley and when the supply
OF CARED goods were exhausted they took
a lesson from the Digger Indians. and par
took Of roasted lizard. Each Of the men
lost from II 10 20 pounds during the trip
and the agent declares that rather than
undergo another such ordeal he would
resign his commission.
There Ga no question but that Death
Valley rs the result and the remainder Of
those caller forces that were once OPP
erative from oregon 10 Texas, a long
time after the rest Of the continent had
settled into comparative guiesencs. 10
vond any doubt this valley was once a
lake with highly impreRnated mineral
waters, but which in Consequence Of some
eruption or some jar got into communl-
cation with the internal heat and yielded
ifs waters 10 evaporation. Even nov the
eiihli' hHhbo'nh lFfit hii'f hfFtIdl nlH4
appearance and temperance, dis
charges near one end Of Death Valley 40
into r. sieve. and that Us iis inal act, 80 far
as ~ character 80 - river goes. u b.
probable that the hot geyrers. the little
mud volcanoes ana the meDhitie steam
that issues from The earth farther south,
utilize this snd other rivers aE vehicle Boo
exhibiting their phenomena. The Dead sea
ln Asia D. the nrareft parallel ~ Ibis Die
frirf fhar. iH ON earth. but ihf American
region far exceeds the Asiafir lu Hize. and
haa numerous bodies NJ polluted waters
that rival those ~ the Dead sea. n %
q plaruf SPOT Infested with VfnomOua
Formi0 Hna nerds ~ bs h0tted gut ~
inuunaflon