The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1904-06-24
DRY BONES VALLEYS
PLACES WHERE DEAD BODIES ARE
PRESERVED BY The CLIMATE.
ia chile, For Instance, the Air Is so
Dry That Ia H. Almost Impossible
For an Inburied body ta Decom-
pose In the Ordinary Mrnucr.

Among the most curious things in
est H. the valley ot dry homes which
continually srupS Up IL various parts
of both hemisphercs,
In Chile. for Instance TIL air is So
dry that IL Is almost Impossible Tor a
body Ia decompoSe in thr ordinary
way. Here and there in the mountains
or OH the plainS one may discover n
body that has bccu clay for several
years. hut has no more returned To
dust than 10 life.
There Is literally valley cf dry
bones" not far from Valparaiso where
| a battle was fought during The Balma-
ceda troubles. Here may Ice seen today
bodies ot men and horses scattered
/ among the rocks that are like nothing
so much rs Egyptian mummics, Shrlv-
elcd 10y the fierce sun ana cmbalmcd
10y the natural dry atmosphere.
This Ia not, strictly speaking, n val
ley of dry bones" but that there is n
| real one I'm Ccylon no one who has Wis
| ited that island can doubt for n mo.
| ment. IL Is a peculiar fact and one
| which il borne out 10y the testimony OF
the English planters In tcylon that
when an elephant feels it's Inst hour
approaching IL Will II permitted Ia do
50 escape into the Jungle to die. once
the sick elephant gets away IL Is never
seen again. Where they 10 To is the
problem.
| IL Is absolutely certain that they
must 90 somewhere. and therefore as
they vanish 50 mystcrlously In the
hour of death one cannot but give
crcdcnce 10 the tale which is often
brought down from the hills 10y the
Tamils aud Clngalcsc.
| According Ia these people, there is n
valley of dry bones" near Talawake elo,
| which Is about twenty five miles south
of Randy, the old capital OF the is
land. This valley, 10 be correct, Is
] said Ia be vast underground tunnel,
with numerous but difficult Ia find en-
frances and exits. such places are
common In Ccylon, but the particular
cave where the elephants go to die has
never been discovered. though numcr-
ous expeditions have sought FOR a.
In view OF the fact that the cle-
plants do disappear when they are
about To die IL seems probable that
some such place does exist on the Is
land. for II TX certain that the great
unwleldy beasts do not swim across
the gulf of Mnnanr Tie person who
finds this elephant scpulchcr viii prob.
ably reap fortune IN ivory
Another strange place c,irtS UB n
real "vallcy of dry houoN' la the Is
land of Jamaica. West lu1ics or
course there In a legend Et,dcucd io T.,
but here are the hard fncts aud un
actual description OF the valley Itself
II In situated near the CuuacuuH gap.
In the Maroon country, al the cn>tcrn
extremity Of the island IuiH region ~
clothed In priw"'al forest and th" fact
that rain falls on au average twelve
hours a day all the year round gives
the Jungle II luNuriant green vcgctn.
tlon not to hc found elsewhere. l'ut
this valley. though situated right In
the heart Of tho wet country" In bare
Of lenf and life.
The limestone rock is white and hot.
Giant trees that seem 10 hnve been
bllghted suddenly stand MP MI gnunt,
white and dend. The valley IL sheltered
from the wind and the first force Of the
rainstorms. As consequence this
strange rnyine In silent, unmolested
and quite dry.
The weird feature In that, although
vegetation seems 20 have been dense
here I'm former years, nothing viii
grow now. Nature has come TO com
plete standstill. During the hot season
the temperature OF the valley IL almost
unbearnblc, and II IL visited by seismic
disturbances that cause the dead trees
and dry hot stones 90 rattle like dry
bones; hence the name the valley has
acquired.
The legend Of this "valley OF dry
bones" can hardly be taken without n
pinch Of salt, but let ps be nothing II
not complete Many years ago, says
the negro story teller, a woman lived
on n plantation in Cuba She was no.
torious for her cruelty 10 her slaves,
She used to throw cayenne pepper In
their eyes and nftcrwsrd stick cactus
needles into their bodies just for sport
One night the slaves rcyoltcd and
burned the plantation house Ia the
ground. The womnn managed 10 cs-
cape In an open boat 80 Jamnicn,
where she sought refuge from her enc.
mics In the heart Of the Jungle.
Here she developed mania for col.
lecting nll sorts md conditions Of cats
Whom she had procured multitude af
the feline tribe she amused herself by
torturlug thcu The legend Inns II That
every night the dcmonacal shricks Of
the woman and the cries ~ the eats
were 10 be heard even ia the Maroon
villages But one night n severe earth
quake came and swallowed mp the
eats. their tOrmentor aud her home
New York Herald