The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-12-06
DO HORSES SEE MIRAGE9
II They DO See II, no They Know That IL
Is Only an nluaionI

From the San Irdncfsco Cdn,
John Wickersham of Los Angeles, CAL.
who for some months past has been riding an
Indian pony in the Northwest, partly for his
health and partly while prospecting for gold.
has returned here on his way home. He says
thore Is n stretch Of desert lying between the
Columbia River and what is known ne Coulee
City In the Big Bend country, Washington. that
enormously surpasses in drcariness anything
that he had ever before seen. Mr.. Wicker
sham carried pick and pan with him on this trip;
he was provided with q roll OF blankets and q
lariat for roping his pony. His provisions con-
sisted chfely OF q piece of bacon, some prepared
coffee, some flour, sugar, and salt. The culinary
outfit was as u light as 1t was possible to make 1t,
In this way, with only a single 45-calibre
pistol TO defend I'm, he moved about, camp
Ing each night wherever he might be.
II have seen and heard a great deal about
dreary st 'etches of country" said Mr.. Wicker
sham. II have been on the plains of Colorado
and Arizona, and on the Mojave and Colorado
deserts in California;; / have also been in tho
dry regions about tho Humboldt Sink in Ne
vada. They are fearful In their desolation.
However. / passed over n region In the Big
Bend country that Is. II possible. more fright
full than any OF these. The street oh Of desert
extends for forty miles along Foster Creek,
from tho mouth to a point nearly on the high
table land on the south. II must have been
merely In derision that the broken gulch
was called q creek. for during no year from
the time which the memory o, man runs was
there ever any water in It's bed. except at the
lower portion during freshets. Into this
CHASTITY region, not knowing that there was
really no water there. / went on my explor-
ing trip. Foster Creek winds by some chalk
white cliffs for several miles south of the Co
lumbia; and finally; when the trail made by
almost level stretch of sandy desert. On
either side are great bare places, as white az
In travelling all this long distance saw
some curious brown birds that Ind no tails.
What the birds lived on I cannot tell. Aside
ing in the air or on the earth; tho sun beat
down frightfully with q baletul glare. 1t
wns SO hot that presently ] was so overcome
that l could scarcely sit on m horse. Rid
Ing over this desert ono becomes desperate.
Overcome by, the thirst and heat. you feel as
strange world. In trying to reach tho hamlet
of Coulcc City. which is, on q branch rail
l : p"int on the desert. and for rT a time MaeT | w trs lost 4.
1T was while ! was lost on this desert that
I saw a beautiful lake be ore me. 1t could
came suddenly into view. I wond cred that l
had not seen it before. As / rode toward it /
saw that some willows were growing on tho
opposite side OF Il. and to my right was some
waving green grass. At the same time n re-
freshinR breeze swept over my face. ] thought
l would soon have plenty OF water. and l
pushed forward as fast as | could toward 1t.
Strange to say. my pony showed no energy,
and ! was surprised at this. for you know that
a horse half furnished. as mine WAS. q IN scent
water, even II II is ten miles away. and as this
was In full sight, / could not make out what
the trouble was. urged the pony forward.
and must have. ridden a mile IN this way. and
still the lake drew no nearer. l had thought
that In the distance / saw wild fowl on the lake
and my perpleSity was Increased. Suddenly
10 dawned upon me that this was no lake. but
that II vas n mirage. which in truth II was.
Then made all possible haste to retrace my
teps. but the pony was nearly tagged ont.
by dint OF great ~eNertion I managed to get
him back over the plains, and at last. after
two DAYS of struggling. | reached A little house
about five miles fro n Coulee City, where n
lonely rancher had enclosed a little piece OF
ground and dug a well. There I got water. was
enabled TO recnperate. AMI at length pushed
on to the railroad. Talk about ~frignttul
stretches Of country. That was the most grue.
some and weirdly feaful OF any that ! ever saw.
want no more experience like the one | had.
Even gold would not tempt me to 20 again into
O country like that"