Las Vegas daily optic. [volume] (Las Vegas, N.M.) 1880-1908, 1897-04-10

ctdtiOu. Dut thc Idluldll mas Am
ished to almost vanishing point, and
sometimes three years intervene be-
tween the tropical downpours. The
country has at some period been COW
cred by showers of volcanic ashes. sat-
urated with water, and much OF this
sand has become cemented into desert
sandstone.
The sense of solitude and desolation
that Expresses one in these sand hills
Is most appalling. From the time you
enter them you are dominated by the
one desire to get u of them. Many
a poor fellow never has got out OF
them, but has persisted from thirst.
With the exception Of the plaintiff wall
Of the dingo or the hum OF the ubiqui-
tous blow fly, absolute silence reigns.
AS far as the eye can reach in every
direction over the plains there is moth
Ing to be seen but bare shining stones,
having a polished surface, from the
sand continually blowing over them.
They are locally known as "gibbers'
(hard 81. AS a traveller puts 1t: These
gibbers are a geological feature to be
remembered. If we looked out to the
horizon we looked over gibbers the
whole distance. We travelled all day
for weeks over gibbers; we slept at
night Upon gibbers; we even found
small portions Of glbbers in our food"
The MacDonnells are three parallel
ranges OF mountains running east and
west and separated by narrow valleys;
the most remarkable of these. which
has been mapped by the explorer. has
been named Horn Valley" The total
length OF this extraordinary valley Is
100 miles, and 1t is only 400 yards In
width. 1t is fanked on both sides by
rugged wall like ranges Of rock 700 to
500 feet in height. The only passes are
the narrow rocky gorges through
which the watercourses pass. !
There are no permanent streams in
Central Australia, but in times Of trop-
zeal rains immense volumes OF water
rush down from the barren hills. The
Finke river is the largest Of these water
courses; 1t drains an immense area,
running north and south. and has many
important tributaries. One Of the ex-
%traordinary features of this country Is
that the Finke river, taking its rise
north of the MacDonnells and running
southwark, impinges on the first of the
ranges, running east and west. One
would expect that the river. on strik-
ing this solid wall of rock at a right
angle. would be DETECTED from its
course. and would flow along the foot
of the range, but not so; the mountain
chain is rent asunder at this point. and
a deep and rocky gorge is formed, hav-
ing walls of bare rock over 1000 feet in
height. between these river passes.
Some of these cliffs are so nearly YER
teal that the sun hardly ever pene-
trates INTO the gloomy depths of the
r The river Their crosses the
Sandy valley, and a like phenomenon
occurs. The second mountain chain is
rent asunder in the same manner, and
the river passes through to the third
parallel range, which again is opened
for its escape on the south side. The
Contra; Australian aborigine Is the liv-
ing representative of a stone age, who
still fashions his spear heads and
knives from flint or sandstone, and
performs the most daring surgical
operations with them. His origin and
history are lost in the gloomy mists of
the past. He has no written records
and few oral traditions. In appear
nee he is a naked, hirsute savage.
with a type Of features occasionally
pronounced Jewish. He is by nature
light hearted, merry, and prone to
laughter; a splendid mimic, supple
jointed, with an unerring hand that
works in perfect unison with the eye,
which is keen as that of an eagle. He
has no private ownership of land. He
cultivates nothing, but lives entirely
on the spoils Of the chase, and although
the thermometer frequently ranges
from Is deg, to over 80 deg. Fair.
in "a hours, and his country is tenn
ing with furred game, he makes no use
of the skins for clothing. but goes
about during the day and sleeps in the
oman narfaotIv nudo He huiIdc M !