The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1903-01-22

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cactus brevihamatus, is called by the ma
tiyes Bisnaga, andbby the Americans bar.
rel cactus and also nigger-head, on account
of its shape. II b covered all over by
ridges running fDm top to bottom, from
which protrude at distances OF about two
inches numerous fcsasters of sharp and
tough thorns; fmn the center of these
clusters grow hooks as sharp as needle
and as tough as steel. If these hooks
were barbed they would be ideal fish
hooks, as the circular creases around their
base seem expressly made for the success
full fastening of the fish-line. With these
hooks caught mnDy fish, some weighing
from one to twoI pounds, taking care to
jerk quick and hard as soon as the bobbin
or cork would go under the surface of the
water, towards the shore, where the fisll,
not being retained for lack of barb,
would generally drop off the hook. OF
course, some would fall back into the wa
ter while in transit through the air, but
with a little practice l learned to over
come this difficulty. Unfortunately the
| fish we caught were more remarkable on
account of the prevalence of bones, which
seemed to criss-cross their anatomy in ev-
cry direction, than by reason of any fine
favor. They were of two kinds; one a
sort of bastard trout, the other the we'll
known yellow-bellied sucker. These lat
ter would bite best during thunderstorm.
For the former we used grasshoppers for
| bait with great success, while the common
earthworm seemed best adapted for the
catching of suckers.
Referring once more to the above-men-
| toned cactus, / obtained from Marigildo
the information, confirmed by herders, ETC.,
later on, that this plant had saved many
a mans life In the desert, provided that
the man was acquainted with the pecu-
| 1s.-s e = %asp fOI,t
of about three feet when full grown, is
very juicy, and forms in its center hollow
large enough to contain, according to the
size of the plant, from one quart to near
| ly a gallon of liquid. When one makes
and maintains fire around it all the juice
of the plant gathers into the hollow, where
it may be scoOped out and drank by the
thirsty, wandering traveller, after cutting
the top of the cactus off. A plainsman,
be he prospector, herder or hunter, is new
err at loss how to make flre, though
he have neither dry match nor a flint
and finder; he simply takes WOODEN rag
or one of his socks, holds it to the mouth
of his pistol, and fires into it. The stuff
will ignite at once from the powder, and
by gathering few leaves or dry twigs OF
the cast-Of dry clusters of cactus thOrns;
which, are without any exception, all res
nous, fire is quickly bulit. The Mexi.
cans gather the young barrel cactus and
manufacture its meat or pulp into candy
which they call "dulce d. bismaza" Bis-
mnza candy; it has the appearance of our
sugar-preserved citrOn and tastes not un'
| like it. The beautiful flowers growing
upon the top of this cactus are purple
with yellow markings; the fruit is fig.
shaped, lemon-colored, but tough, and al
though not unpalatable, is not put to any
| use.
| WILD HORSES.
| Between Camp Wallen and Camp
Crittenden we saw almost on every occa
| sion we had to make the transit between
| the two places n herd of wild horses, mum
bering about 400 head, among which were
conspicuous two very large stations that
seemed to be engaged in an everlasting
feud. One was coal-black, the other of a
spotless, glittering white. Lieut.. Harring
ton had a powerful field-glass, through
which we observed their fierce combats
which seemed almost interminable; they
kicked and bit one another like animals
possessed by the fury of inextinguishablt
hate, while the herd was quietly grazing
near by, apparently taking no Interest
whatever in the combat or its result
These wild horses were exceedingly shy
and ran off as soon as they would SET
anything in the shape of man approach
ing from far distance. Marigiido ant
myself, having both long-winded and fee
horses, pursued them several times in theil
fight. and on two occasions succeeded il
capturing small colt too young to keeI
up with the herd on the long run. W.
brought them to camp and reared then
with cows milk, as we did the antelope
kids. I do not know what horses they
ultimately turned out to be, as they were
not yet full-grown when we abandoned
Camp WalleD. Their appearance then die
not justify any hopes towards their be
coming more than ordinary eommon-sizt
mustangs.
CANiELs OF ARIZONA DESERT.
At one time while Lieut.. Harrington
had gone with me upon that road to lool
for a rattlesnake in prair;e-dog village
we naturally looked in the direction where
we were accustomed to see the wild
horses. We could not see any, but neal
the place where they frequently grazet
we saw two animals that presented &
strange appearance. We could readily see
even from far distance, that they wer,
neither horses nor cattle, nor yet deer mol
antelope; bears never descended so fal
upon the plain, at least not in daylight
Presently Harrington adjusted his eye
glass and took q long, steady look; hi
shook his head, wiped the glasses AM
looked again, breathing hard. All at one,
he bursted out with: "Well, I'll be for
ever damaged. If these are not camels
regular Egyptian dromedaries: lookw
Well, looked at him first and looked
Mt him hard, but could discover nothing
unusual in his features except the mos
unbounded establishment. Then directed
the glass towards the object of our curl
osity. Sure enough, there were two cam
els looking as natural as the one that hat
carried me to the pyramid of Cheops il
Egypt. We could hardly believe ou
senses, but the fact was there, indisputa
BILE, undeniable. We rode towards them
but found them SO shy that they scamper
ed off before we were within 800 yard
of them, and ran like the wind towards
the sandy desert lying south Of the Sants
Rita Mountains.
We forgot all about the rattlesnak'
whose skin we wanted for a belt, ant
made haste to camp. Here nobody seem
ed willing to believe us until Marigiido
hearing of the matter, not only confirmed
our statement, but said in addition tina
he had seen the whole herd of 40 camel
when they were brought to Arizona from
Yuma In 1858. The Government, believ
ing that they would make good pack ami
mails In q country where water was s,
scarce, had imported this herd Of camel
and sent it to Arizona under charge of al
Arabian. or Turk, or Greek, whom every
body called "Greek Charley" I met thi
man during the following year QS6S) a
Tucson. Referring to his charge he sait
that the enterprise, proved a complete fail
ure, on account of the nature of tn
ground. The roadslin Arizona, he averred