The Opelousas courier., 1898-01-01
DESERT LAND OF FIRE.
A GROUP OF ACTIVE VOLCANOES IN
LOWER CALIFORNIA.
Strange Valley Near the Mouth the
Colorado River Phenomena of Nature
Described-M Mysterious Lake ct Black
Ink Discovered-A lsncanny Region.


Ink Discovered hncanny Region.
An expedition of California scien-
fists, with two gentlemen connected
with the United States geological sur
vey, have just returned from q trip
down the lazy, muddy Colorado river
from Yuma to the Gulf Of California,
and have spent several weeks in in
vestigating the volcanoes in that re-
gion. The men who comprised the
expedition say theirs were the first
pale faces seen in the valley q. the
volcanoes" in several years, and that
the region az the mouth Of the Colo
RADIO river is full Of natural wonders.
The exact location Of the land Of
volcanoes is southwest Of the Cocopah
moupto2ins a. exactly ON the bound
ar line between the state Of Sonora,
,blexico, and the eastern part Of Lower
California. As . bird would fly it is
2l9 milesesouthwest from the quaint
old Mexicah md American pueblo Of
Yuma, and q few miles from where the
Rio Colorado sprawls its muddy wa
tiers into the Gulf of California.
The air for Lilies around the valley
of the volcanoes is heavy with foul
fumes, and only persons of strong
lungs and Threats can stand the olors,
even q dozen miles away, for more
than q few hours. When one has
gone to the volcanoes the odors are
found to be dangerous to animal life,
unless there is a strong breeze blow
ing to carry the sulphur-laden air
away. There are undoubted stories
Of persons who have ventured too far
among the volcanoes, where the air
was calm and heavy with the poison,
who have died in a few minutes.
The first view Of the locality Of the
volcanoes, from an elevated spot on a
hill on the edge of the valley, is mem
orable. The feeling as Il gazes
over an area Of thirty miles, under the
burning sun Of the desert. dotted
everywhere by thousands ,1f hum
mocks and mounds, with blue smoke
curling up from some Of these, and
flames and PARTICLES of molten lava
from others, is that here indeed is q
literal inferno on earth. The mounds
or Volcanoes are of all sizes, from that
Of a hogshead to a mound some $50 or
200 feet high. The majority Of them
are about fifteen feet high and are sixty
feet In circumference.
Most of these little volcanoes are &C.
tive, and when they are not splitting
forth vapors and lurid flames are boil
ing and stewing within. The noise of
several thousand volcanoes seething,
grumbling and bubbling is indescrib-
able. The ground trembles beneath
ones feet, and a peculiar purple haze
envelopes the scene as far as n can
see. On some days a few of the larger
volcanoes-those that r 100 feet
high, and slightly less than an acre in
area-may be in eruption. Then the
scene is even more impressive. The
rumbling is 80 loud that one must
shout to be heard by b~ystanders. A
dozen times a minute q flame twenty
five feet high and eight feet in diane
ter bursts from the crater of each
Of the large volcanoes and Is &C.
companied BY q sound like the escape
Of steam from an enormous safety
valve Oh a steam engine.
The fame is of a peculiar dark-red-
dish hue, and when hundreds of bits
ottawa, the size of cabbages are thrown
with it the noise is louder. The flame
settles back within the volcano as
quickly as it shoots out, only to burst
forth again in four or five seconds.
Sometimes the large volcanoes are
active for a fortnight at O time, anc
then may rest for a year. A few days
is the usual period of eruption will
these, and the periods may be month:
apart.
The valley of the volcanoes is abou
thirty-two miles long and from fftee1
to twenty miles wide. It has beer
found by surveys to be one-third of
mile north Of the line dividing the
the United States and Mexico, ant
the territory is about 800 feet below
the level Of the sea. To the north
towering skyward, their snow-eoveret
tops g~listening in the sunlight, are thu
lofty Cocopah mountains, and to tn
far west, just within range Of the vi
sion, can be discerned the coast range
To the south are also seen rugge,
crests of another chain of mountains
not so lofty as the Cocopahs, but NOR,
broken. Not a bit of vegetation ma,
be seen for over a hundred mile
around. The very mountains lool
blasted and spectral. To the east
still another ragged ribbon Of rock
iutting out sharply against the horizon
In this rock-hemmed basin are &C
tive and dead volcanoes, spouting gey
sers, boiling springs, a lake of som
black, sticky substance r%esemblin,
ink, craters that blow out only DIR,
ashes, others that send forth stone
and gravel, and still others that belcl
liquid and blazing streams of mud
There are other holes which emit onl,
Indifferent pufs of smoke or steam
while from all issues a burning odo
of birthstone. Strangely in contras
with this area of fire and destruction
there are numerous springs of clea
and sparkling cold water, exquisitel
grateful TO the palate parched by tn
heat and the sulphurous fumes. VIVA
is more peculiar is that the springs @
cold water are often found in proximit
to the hot springs, and separated fror
them by only a few yards.
This is a land that has never bee:
traversed. Human beings have trie'
it, but they never return to tell G
their experience " of their discoveries