The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1904-06-08
DRY BONES VALLEYS
PLACES WHERE DEAD BODIES ARE
PRESERVED BY THE CLIMATE.
In Chile, For Instance, the Air La So
Dry That IL IL Almost Impossible
For an Inburicd body to Decom-
pose In the Ordinary Manner.

For an Inburied body to Dccom-
pose In the Ordinary Manner.
Among the most curious things In
this queer old world perhaps the weird
est is the valley of dry bones which
continually crops up In various parts
of both hemiSpheres.
In Chile, for instance, the air is so
dry that it is almost impossible For a
body to decompoSe III the ordinary
way. Here and there In the mountains
or on the plains one may discover n
body that has been clay for several
years. but has no more returned t.
dust than To life.
There is literally valley of dry
bones" not far from Valparaiso where
Il battle was fought during the Balma-
ccda troubles Ilcrcsmay be seen today
bodies of men and horses scattered
among the rocks that nre like nothing
50 much as Egyptian mumnies, shriv-
cled Ivy the fierce sun and cmbalmed
hy the natural dry atmosphere
This is not strictly speaking, IN val
ley of dry homes" but that there is
'
tied that island can doubt for mo-
ment. Ii Is peculiar faet and one
which is borne out by the testimony of
the English planters In Ceylon that
when an elephant feels its last hour
approaching it will If permitted to do
so escape Into the jungle To die. Once
the sick elephant gets away ii is never
n va IN l.. AZ
problem.
Ii is absolutely certain that they
must go somewhere. and therefore rs
they vanish SO mysteriously In the
hour of death one cannot but give
credcnce to the tale which is often
brought down from the hills by the
ramls and CingAlcsc
According 10 these people. there is Il
valley of dry bones near Tnlawakelc.
which Is about twenty i've miles south
of Handy, the old capital of the ia
land This valley, TO be correct, is
said To be IL vast underground tunnel
with numerous but difficult To find en-
frances and exits. such places are
common in Ceylou. but the particular
never been discovered though uumcr-
ous expeditions have sought for IT,
In View of the fnct that the elc-
plants do disappear when they are
about 10 die il seems probable that
some such place does exist ON the Is
hind, for II Is certain that the great
unWieldN beasts do not swim across
a. Lg
finds this elephant scpulchcr VIII prob.
ably reap fortune In ivory.
Another strange place exists as II
real valley of dry bones" In the Ia
land of jamaica. West Indies. OF
course there is II legend attached Ia it.
but here are the hard faets and an
actual description of the valley itself
II is situated near the Cuuacuuu gap.
in the Maroon country, ut the eastern
extremity of the island This region Is
clothed in prlmcNal forest. and the fact
that rain falls on an average twelve
hours day all the year round gives
the jungle n luNuriant green Neseta
ton not to he found elsewhere Hut
this valley. though situated right in
the lSnll tl TIE W.T. county - ia "
Of leaf and life.
The limestone rock IL white and hot.
Giant trees that seem 10 have been
hlighted suddenly stand up all gmlnt,
white and dead. The valley Is sheltered
| from the wind and the first force of the
| transforms As consequence this
| strange ravlne IL silent, unmolestcd
and quite dry
| The weird feature Is that, although
vegetation seems to have been dense
| here In former years, nothing Will
grow now Nature has come to II com
plctc standstill During the hot season
the temperature of the wiley is almost
unbcnrnblc, and 1t Is visited by seismic
disturbances TINT cause the dead trees
and dry hot stones To rattle like dry
bones; hence the mime the valley has
acquired.
The legend of this "vallcy of dry
bones" can hardly be taken without II
pinch of salt, but let us be nothing If
not complete. Many years ago says
the negro story teller, II woman lived
on II plantation In cuba. She WIS no
torlous for her cruelty to her slaves.
She used to throw cayenne pepper In
| their eyes and nftcrWurd stick cactus
needles into their bodies Just for sport
| one night the slaves rcVoltcd and
! burned the plantation house To the
| ground. The woman managed to os=
cnpe In an open boat to Jamnica,
whchc she sought refuge from her enc
Al.