The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-03-26
CURIOSITIES or 4 DESERT.
Stones and shells strewn over the Deadly
Plains IF YuhA.

Stones and SHELLS StreWn over tne Doauly
Plains n YuhA.
There is a section Of the Colorado Desert
where nature has left some remarkable
records. She has ,isited the region. alter
nately, with FIRE aud Swater, and has left
II with neither. 1t is the most desolatS,
wild, barren, forbidding part Of the desert,
says tho Los Angeles Times, and 1t Ia
shunned alike by man and beast. That
there IL good and sufiicient reason for avoid
ing this locality is affected by numbers
Of Rraves-nameless, for the most part
found in the terrible region.
These graves are simple affairs, merely
mounds Of earth with border Of stones
abOut each and q pile Of rocks two or three
fset high at the head. Zach tells the story
81 tragedy Of heat, thirst and death,
Those items are about ell that is ever known
Of the stories Of those who perish. Their
mumJnifOd bodies OF bleached bones are
found long after the struggle is over and
the finder, respecting the memory Of the
unknown, scoops q hole In tho earth, Lays
the CHASTITY relic within, and piles up the
only monument available In that Wild re-
gion.
As recently as Dec. IS, 1904, the bones Of
a thirst victim we're laid In one Of thess
lonely. fiowerless, turfess graves on the
Tlains Of Yuha.
The plain now lies nearly 100 feet below
the level Of the sea and the rocks Of the
plain and the bases Of the mounteins are
washed and eroded in a wonderful manner.
MinRling with the burnt stones and volcanic
debris are rocks worn by the waves and
shaped into hundreds Of fantastic forms.
There are many acres Of these stone
curiosities and certain sections Of the field
seem devoted to certain shapes and
fgurez
For instance, one passes through a region
which he at once names the cabbage patch,
for Il presents the appearance Of a Held OF
those vegetables which have turned to
stone, The waves have worn the rocks
into round boulders about the size Of the
vegetable which they so much resemble, and
have cut into the globes, Eliminating them
IN perfect imitation of the leafy Layers Of !
the garden vegetable
Another locality Is devoted almost eI-
elusively to dinner plates. Thousands OF I
rounded, thin disks are scattered over the |
plain or are piled scores deep in singular /
piles. each piece shaped exactly like the
crockery which adorns our tables, and quite
a. thin and symmetrical.
Another section OF this truly wonderful
region Is given almost wholly to dumb
bells. These vary in size from pieces
Weighing one or two pounds, up to those
seemingly calculated for exercising the
muscles Of a giant and Weighing thirty
or forty pounds each. In almost every
Instance these natural dumbbells are we'll
balanced, the balls at either end Of the
connecting piece being Of the same size
There is in this plain an arsenal, also.
While guns and swords and bAyonets and
powder were not there to be found. there
ere thousands OF cannon balls varying In
size from 2 and inch balls TO those nj for
the big 10 inch guns Of modern warfare.
And all are Of stone, ell formed In natures
Workshop.
There are other objects innumerable.
There are stone roses, stone lilies, stone
tulips stone loavos, stone birds. stone ami
mails, stone quoits, stone ornaments In
varied and unique designs; stone canes
In fact almost everything conceivable In
nature OF ar. initiated in stone on the plain
Of Yuha.
In one portion Of Yuha rise two hills
or small mountains. One might mistake
them in the distanoe for ancient oraters,
but when he approaches the eminences he
~hcOyere them 10 be monuments 10 an
ancient me-the records Of species now
extinct They are shell mountains, great
beds Of prehistoric bivalves which were
eft stranded when that ancient sea swept
hack from the region and left a dry and
desolate land.
One Of these mountains. the large one,
Is composed wholly Of large rough shells,
much larger, but less elongated than the
shells Of the modern oyster, which In
some respects Shey 20 much resemble
"a to lead 10 the suspicion that they are
he remains Of the ancestor OF our much
priced bivalve.
The lesser hill Il composed Of tiny shells
q prehisto type Of bra chiopoda. Like
ne larger shells, they are found, except on
me surface, 10 an undiaturbed state, both
valves Of nearly every she'll being found In
plsition. Although the molluak dwellers
d these shells vanished several centuries
lgo, 20 perfect are the shells one almost
3Hpeots, when he opens the valves Of the
'neu' 70 md The living oroatuTo within. Il