Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1896-11-03
HOME OF DRAGONS.
GOVERNMENT EXPEDITION TO
THEIR ANCIENT HABITAT.
Their skeletons Founa--Thcy Lived
About Five Million Years Ago, ana
the Least OF Them Was
Wonder.
Wonder.

70 tho Boston Transcript. They have
been collecting fossils in Converse coun-
~. Wyo.. where are found deposits
of the bones Of veritablo dragons that
lived about five million years ago. These
occur in the famous Laramie peds'
which are full Of the skeletons OF the
monstrous extinct reptiles known to sell
ence as "Dinosaurs' meaning, literally
terrible reptiles" In their time they
constituted an extensive geological or
der. the members OF which exhibited the
utmost conceivable variation as 70 struc-
ture and habits. Some Of them had as
great q bulk as half dozen elephants.
weighing thirty tons or more whiie
others were less In szs than modern
foxes. Most OF them seem TO have been
semi-aquatic, spending much OF their lives
IN the water.
Il is owing 10 their amphibious habits
apparently, that such quantities OF thelt
remains have been preserved Tor the IN
struction and establishment Of mankind
to-day. At the period when they hYed
n large part of the interior Of the North
American Continent was covered by
great system Of lakes, which extended
northward from Mexico to Canada. These
lakes formed an immense inland sea or
fresh water, SO that the geographical
aspect OF what IS now In the United
States was as different as possible from
what 1t Is now. The continent was
young then. and the Rocky Mountains
were but a string Of Islands. The ell
mate was much like that Of the Middle
Eastern States at present and the shores
Of the lakes were clad with q luxurlant
vegetation. Forests Of oaks. elms,
naples, magnolas. and even fig trees,
dominated the landscape, where now are
only deserts. arid and desoiate.
The strange reptiles here described
were more or less apt 10 die in the water
Of rivers When that occurred their
bodies were carried by tho streams
10 the lakes. They foated about for
awhile. and eventually sank TO the bot
tom, where they were covered up by sand
and other debris Thus, II circumstances
happened 10 be favorable, their skeletons
were preserved. In the course Of time
the lakes dried up; the land was uplifted
by geological change, and the sand which
enclosed the remains Of the animals
hardened into stone. In this way IT comes
about that the skeletons may now
be dug out Of the hills in that desert
region. Along the eastern flank Of the
Rocky Mountains may be traced for hum
dreds Of miles certain wel-deiined strata,
which contain these ancient reptilian
bones. II is supposed that in that part
of the country during the epoch descrb-
ed there was an estuary. in which the
animals disported themselves in immense
numbers. Some of them got caught in
the mud and so persisted: and that ac-
counts for the finding Of their skeletons
in such surprising numbers In that situ-
alton.
The region In question IS at present a
land OF utter despair. IL Is an almost
lifoless desert There is almost no vege-
tatiOn. save along the bottoms Of river
courses, which are dry nearly all Of the
time Now and then comes a rain
storm, and the water rushes down from
the mountains in dangerous torrents. For
a few hours the stream beds are flooded,
and then they become dry again. The
river bottoms ordinarily are Of dry sand.
and water is only 10 DO obtained by Dig
ging a hole. into which an alkaline ana
unpleasant fluid slowly creeps. But the
hunter after fossils is Indifferent 10 hard
ships; he cares naught for the tortures
Of thirst or the searching heat Of the
sun. To him an all-sudicient reward Is
the sight Of a qucer-lookng something
sticking out Of a clin In that region Of
barren hills, deep gulches. and gloomy
canyons.
Perhaps 1t is the great horn of a giant
reptile-may be Of an unknown species.
The obvious proceeding Is TO climb up
the cliff and begin a process OF excaya-
ton. 1t is a performance enormously dif-
fcult To begin with, there are few facili-
cllities At hand. The nearest railway Is
fifty miles distant, and there is not a
house within fifteen miles. The bones are
embedded ordinarily in brown sandstone;
IL is Of soft material, fortunately, and
easily cut. Carefully IT is picked away
so as not to mutilate the precious object
until a part of the skull Is disclosed. This
part is promptly wrapped with gunny-
sacks that have been dipped In paste
otherwise IL would fall into dust on ex-
posture 10 the air. 1t may be necessary
to pour moist plaster of Paris upon the
newly-eXposed fossil and let It harden, so
as 70 hold the relic together. The pro-
cess described Is continued until the en-
tire bony structure is secured I'm this
manner two complete skulls OF the Tri-
ceratops, a ihree-horned Dinosaur were
obtained, each OF them Weighing two
tons.
Many Of the creatures whose remains
arr thus dug out correspond very nearly
to the monsters made familiar 20 the
Imagination OF childhood by the fairy
tales of the nursery. Real dragons and
"chmaeras dire" swarmed everywhere I'm
those days. Take the Laelaps. for exam
pie. This was an animal forty feet long,
built like a kangaroo 1t walked erect On
its hind legs and was incredibly agile,
leaping seventy feet at a bound It's Jaws
were armed with teeth like bayOnets, and
its remarkably small fOrelimbs termi-
mated in hands which were provided with
cruel claws. The vertebrae and leg bones
Of "a zoo - Al HoI
sake Of lightness. and probably the first
thing 1t did to a victim was to scratch
its eyes out. Weighing a couple Of tons
with the activity OF an antelope, and pro-
vded by nature with weapons far more
effective than those OF any modern mann
NAL, the Laelaps was probably the most
formidable beast that ever existed.
In Imagination one can picture this
frightful creature stalking kangaroo
fashion along the bank Of a river. is
head uplifted twenty five feet above the
ground so that II was able 10 overlook
a considerable stretch of country. Per-
chance 1t sees. sluggishly wading IN the
stream and feeding on the water plants.
a reptile far larger than itself with a
long and crane-llke neck, very small
head and a body OF enormous bulk,
weighing twenty tons or more. This Is
Brontosaur. a stupid and almost de-
fenceless animal, amphibiOus IN habits,
measuring Co feet from snout TO end CT
tail. Hardly has IL time % realize
the presence of its enemy before the Lac
laps. with a bound. has alighted upon its
back The tragedy is quickly accom-
plished and the merciless carnivore Is
soon gorging itself with the flesh OF It's
gigantic victim.
Following the course Of the stream the
imaginative traveller comes every row
and then upon the form OF some reptile
OF vast bulk and alarming aspect. sun
ming itself on a bank. or browsing upon
the aquatic Vegetation. But the craa-