The San Francisco call., 1899-08-13

" OS ANGELES, Cal.-An expedition
OF California scientists, among
J them Professor S. w. Preston, with
IL two gentlemen connected with the
United States Geological Survey.
have just returned from a trip down the
lazy. muddy Colorado River from Yuma
to the Gulf of California and have spent
several weeks in investigating the vol
canoes in that region. The men who com
prised the expedition say theirs were the
first palefaces seen in the valley Of the
- Volcanoes in several years and that the
region at the mouth of the Colorado
River is full of natural wonders.
The exact location Of the land of vol
canoes Is southwest Of the Cocopah
Mountains and exactly on the boundary
line between the State of Sonora, OF
Mexico, and the eastern part of Lower
California. AS a bird would fly it is l1S
southwest from the quaint old Mexican
and American pueblo of Yuma and a few
miles from where the Rio Grande sprawls
its muddy water into the Gulf of Cali
fornia.
All Indians are superstitous, and those
In Arizona and Northern Mexico believe
that the land of volcanoes is the next
door TO hell itself. There are hundreds
of legends and stories among the Pimas,
Maricopas and COcopahs about the hOr-
rible beings that have in ages past come
y
of the Indians and Of the spirits of dead
and wicked red men that wander about
down there in the sulphurous atmosphere,
only waiting an opportunity to wreak
vengeance upon some unsuspecting saw
age. The Jesuit missionaries who came
up the Rio Grande in 1898 on a mission
of Christianity and civilization among the
savages were probably the first whites
who saw the volcanoes in that region.
Their diaries contain several pages Of
the grewsome legends the Indians con-
nected with the land Of the always
mad spirit"
The air for miles around the valley Of
the volcanoes is heavy with foul fumes
and only persons Of strong lungs and
throats can stand the odors, even several
miles away, for more than a few hours
When one has gone to the volcanoes the
odors are found to be dangerous to ami
NAL life unless there is a strong breeze
blowing 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. Several years ago Pro-
fessor Smedley Of Ontario College fitted
up an apparatus whereby he could carry
a rubber bag full of pure air while he was
exploring among the liveliest of these vol
canoes. In some way his device did not
work when he had gone only 200 yards
into the valley of the fire spitters," as
the Indians call them, and had he not been
seen to stagger and fall by several COM
panions who, at the risk of their own
lives, rushed in to his rescue, he would
have died in a few minutes. AS it was,
the whole party was Ill for a week or
more from the effects Of inhaling the pol
son.
The first view of the locality Of the vol
canoes from an elevated spot on hill on
the edge Of the valley is memorable. The
feeling as one gazes over an area Of
thirty miles under the hot, burning sun
of the desert, dotted everywhere by thou
sands of hummocks and mounds, and blue
smoke curling up from some of these, and
flames and particles Of molten lava from
others is that here indeed is literal in
ferno on earth. The mounds or volcanoes
are of all sizes, from that Of a hogshead
to a mound some 150 to 200 feet high. The
majority of them are about fifteen feet
high, and are sixty feet in circumference
at the greatest point. Most Of these lit
tie volcanoes are active. and when they
are not splitting Earth vapor and !urid