The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-07-18


Of the place they have impish habits and
distorted anatomies, such as lngoidsoy at
tributed TO the fantastical devils family
conjured up by Satan for the temptation OF
the good ST. Anthony.
one of the most curious rodents peculiar
to Death Valley is the scorpion mouse,
which lives wholly on scorpions, and gets
| fat at that. BY instinct probably evolved
through generations of unpleasant expert
ence, it knows enough not to tackle its
prey at the business end Then there IS
the "grasshopper mouse, when mas
strong taste for centipedes, ana pocket
mice. with huge wallets OUTSIDE their
threats 10 store provisions in NOT Ior a
rainy day. though. for it never rains IN
these internal regions.
All these little creatures are in them
selves harmless TO humanity, yet they play
a part in the di9bolcal scheme Tor me &c
structon of life in this den OF the destroyer;
1t seems as if they were merely placed
there as food for the terrible reptiles with
which the gorge abounds, and when are
the true ruling spirits or TINS Nalley OF
desOlatiOn and death
The snakes are not said to grow to any
enormous size. They are not the snakes OF
the conventional strOy teller But they are
the most accomplished snakes in their par
ticular line of business that the whole CON
tnent can produce. They are sudden Oettn
snakes A little ''rattler" about two rect
long is the champion lightweight OF the
community. 1t is claimed that he can put a
strong man to sleep in one round and IN less
than five minutes.
which can give cards and spades TO Jer-
sey mosquito, takes a hand in the game.
sting a regiment of soldiers TO death before
the bugler had time to sound the signal Tor
retreat. After three months the neat Klls
off even these insects. scorpions ana tdTdH-
ttllas are plentiful as black9erries and very
poisonous. Lizards often measure as much
as two feet in length They are eaten ana
considered a great luxury by the Digger IN
dams, who live the mountains adjoining
the death pit Half-starved coyotes prowl
around, afraid to enter, and feast upon the
human and animal flesh which fries and
frizzles in the sun.
A TEMPTING STORY.
A man named Bennett, one of the sur
vivors of the Inflated caravan of 1850, was
responsible for a story which drew many
prospectors to the valley and lured not
few to their death. 1t is said, as he Stun
bled along in a canyon of the mountains
west of the valley, he found spring OF
water and stopped to drink. His life was
saved, and, sitting idly by the stream, he
broke off a bit Of exposed rock and was
surprised to find it of metallic substance
He afterward asked a goldsmith to make
musket sight of 1t as memento 1t was
found to be silver, and the mythical story
of the "gun-sight lead" caused many TO
rush to the spot in the hopes OF nnding "a
rich seam. In 1861 a party OF eight MeXl-
cans found a gold vein near the Amarso
river bed, east of Death valley, put the
Piutes, white Arabs of the desert, came
| along and killed every man of them.
In 1871 Lieutenant Wheeler, on an explor-
| ing trip, ordered his guide to cross the val
| ley on foot The guide declared this i'm
| possible. So the lieutenant called two sol
| diers, who, with fixed bayonets, compeled
| the guide to start. Within two hours one
| OF the soldiers staggered back to camp, JUST
| able to walk. A relief squad found the
other soldier and carried him out, but the
| guide had become insane had strayed away
and was never found again. ,.,s,...
In Death Valley there is no humldlty,
| which, however unpleasant when in pro-
| fusion, is nevertheless necessary to NE.
| Curious effects of the arid air are recoroed;
! Chairs transported to this region OF eternal
| heat Immediately fall to pieces. water par
rels, incautiously left empty, lose th thp
| hoops within an hour. One end OF the
| blanket that has been washed VIII dry
while the other end is being manipulated IN
| the tub A saturated handkerchief he!d IN
| the sun becomes dry in haSh-qulcKer
| than it would before red-hot stove: -
Surveyor Mc Wb6b operaes on the
/ brink, says:
'The heat is intense. A man cannot go
an hour without water without becoming
| insane. One man died from the heat while
| lying still within the adobe house Announcer
while riding with canteen IN ms mana on
| top of a load of boraX, fell over ana eX-
/ pired. He was so parched that MS heau
| cracked over the top. . -,
| "A Frenchman named Isidore Daunet had
/ q terrible experience in and around the val
| ley In 1880 he with six others attempted
to cross bound for arizona. ne a was q
| the idea of danger in so narrow strip or
| land The party started, and before they
| realized their condition their water was
| gone Half wild with suffering, they cut
! the Threats of their pack animals and drank
the squirting blood as tigers might nave aye
| done Daunet and the strongest of the
| band escaped with life. Three persisted;
! Some time afterward the Frenchman tled
| up his head in a white handkercn1eI SAT
! down facing mirror ana put pullet III
| his brain. -, J., A.,
woods at the border OF Death VaHey are
| restricted to a peculiar diet Their staple
| food is lizard flesh. one. of these reptiles,
| called the ''chuchwalla' by the whites and
| the "chahWalla" by the Indians, is large
| enough to weigh three pounds when dressed.
| The Indians place them as caught between
/ two hot rocks to roast The whites dress
! them and broil them on the Goals of a sage
| brush root fire or fry them in bacon fat.
| The meat resembles that OF q. 1rog nina
Perhaps the greatest curiosity of Death
! Valley vermin life, and at the same time
| the most deadly, is the "sidewinder snake:
| 1t is peculiar to this one desert region. 1t
| is little "rattler," from fifteen to eighteen
| inches long, that 1ops about from side TO
| side instead of crawling, as respectable
| reptiles do. 1t has horn one-eighth inch
| long over each eye, and the warning ring
| of its rattles is so mild and soft as to be
| rarely heard The first knowledge of its
unfortunate victim is the sting OF it's teeth.
| The next thought is that he has but three
| minutes longer to live:
The record of deaths in this desert is
| friQhtful In every instance the victims
first become insane. John c. O'Brien,
| prospector, reached some coyote holes on
| the edge of a dry lake. The water there
| only Aggravated his thirst. His brain gave
way, and he began digging in the sand
| with his hands. When help reached him he
| was found dead under a grease-bush with
| his fingers worn to the bone from insane ef-
| forts to dig for water. A strange delusion
! often seizes the sufferer. The dreams of
| water become realities to the wanderer He
| believes he is at last in the water More
| than one man has been found stripped
naked and walking about on the burning
| sand, holding his clothing above his head.
| AS rescuers approached they were warned
| to be careful for the water was deep, and
| once they were within reach of the dying
| man he would clutch them as drowning
man might do.
| APPEARANCE OF THE REGION.
| Mr.. Westcott thus describes the appear
| ance of the region:
| 1.-The valley and it's lowering black walls
| of barren rock weird and strangely
| sublime in their desolaton For miles and
miles the curious mountains may be seen
| outlined against the clear blue sky Stretch
/ ing from the mountains feet are glistenipg
| fields of salt Here and there running
| streams of salt and mineral waters. To
drink them is to die The view is closed in
by the gloomy cliffs of the Funeral noun
| tains which form an impenetrable barrier
| at the east of the canyon. The scene is one
/ of violent contrasts Of giaring whites and
| dead blacks
Some parts of the valley are wastes of
| hot sand drawn in places into high mounds
! by the whiring blasts that sweep down the
/ gorge. There. too, is the curious self-risng
| earth. AS far as the eye can see 1t appears
| in curving outline up and down, as if
puffed up by a natural yeast. The unfor-
| tunate creature that steps up on the little
/ hills will crash through, for they are not