New-York tribune., 1906-12-15
4 REGION OF SURPRISES.
The Colorado Desert and Its Mvs-
ter1ous lSalton Sea.

the Overflow of the Colorado River TO the Mys
With ten maps and diagrams. thirty-two full
ee m oP rm 9n three nrd fna pn dnd nix
sketches from nature by Carl Eytel vols.
& Co pp XIV 7'0' XIV -'i-'''' Little '''0"l
Weird and wonderful in its aspects and MOODS
in its life and death, is any desert, the Colo
| rado Desert has idiosyncrases that seem to
| place it in a class by itself. It's charm is not
apparent to the railway tourist who is swept
across its expanse in sitting cars, breathing its
alkal laden air. But that its appeal is strong,
often Irresistible, to those who have grown to
know it in more leisurely, intimate way. the
books that have been written about it bear elo-
quent testimony. This mysterious attraction Of
the desert for man, which save color and vital
| ity TO Mr., Burdic6s THE Mystic Mid-Resion,'
| is equally felt in the two handsome volumes
now put forth by Mr.. James. In addition the
present writer, drawing from his stores Of
| knowledge and experience, gathered in twenty
five years OF wanderings and study, has been
able to make his treatise a far more compre-
hensive work than anything that has hitherto
been undertaken in regard TO the subject. There
is no phase of the region that he fails to touch.
and there are few that he does not illuminate
with a penetrating understanding. The volumes
owe not little OF their interpretative character
to the illustrations abundantly scattered
through the pages The author has been fort
unate in his collaboration with all artist who.
although self-taught, has learned his lesson
amid the very scenes that he appreciatively de-
pcts.
The desert is full of contradictions. The die
tionaries tell that it is uninhabited region,
yet there are 100000 people dwelling in the
Sahara. The Colorado Desert is no less anoma-
lous in its nature and name In the first place,
it is not in Colorado but in Southern California
It contains not only plains and sand, but
mountains and trees. rivers and-at present-a
lake, the mysterious SaltOn Sea Here is an
other tituar contradiction, for this body or
water. fed by the diverted current of the Colo
rado River-which does not flow through Colo
rado-is fresh. Although constantly changing IN
its details. the impression Of the desert is al
ways the same. This applies even TO its legends
There is the tabled "Pegleg Smith Mine" which
has lured so many prospectors TO disappolnt-
ment and death. The author has read many
accounts Of it. one of which he prints as being
good as any of the others, yet he has found
two of the stories 10 agree. They are like
the curious Superstition MOuntain-a firm, rocky
base. covered with constantly shifting sand. |
which causes the elevation ever to assume new
and unfamiliar outlines. While preserving its
fundamental Identity So hot is the desert in
the summer that men turn the hose upon their
beds and sprinkle them down in the early even
yet the nights are often uneomfortaby cold. |
The temperature varies from II degrees in Win
100 degrees in the veritable heated term"
The author has an uncomfortable recollection of |
the thermometer registering 12S degrees at mid i
night. Equally variable is it's surface altitude, |
ranging from the 10S05 feet of San Jacinto |
Mountain to the - 253 feet of the Salton Basin |
Delightful to Mr.. James are the odors Of the |
desert. each vivid definite. distinct from all the
others. Where nothing putrifes the afr is pure |
and free from offence
One may be on the desert q whole year and never
have his nose assailed with the vile odors that |
are the peculiar property of cities. Decaying gar
air of closed-up churches. the polluted 'gassy'' |
earth smells when the streets are dug into for re-
pairs gas mains. etc, the thousand and /
smells and stinks and denominations to the olfactory
senses of civilization are never present in the |
desert. I am willing to endure the primitive con- |
duons IN order 70 he free from these apparently |
one are health and life, and in the other are |
disease and death.
The-author devotes special chapter to the |
Surprises of the Desert" but it is surprising |
in almost every aspect to the newcomer. Its
fertility is amazing. Let rain fal-and rain |
does fall there-and flowers of marvellous |
beauty and abundance deck its surface. Irri- |
gate it, and grapevines, planted cuttings |
are bearing two and three pound clusters of |
fruit in three months. Mr.. James tells strange |
tale of fish In the desert. A young man who |
was out shooting rats, mice and gophers at |
dusk heard a peculiar noise in the bushes be- |
hind him. and seeing nothing, on hearing ii |
again fred bIindly in the direction OF the noise |
In the dim light he could find nothing that he |
had shot but going 10 the spot next morn |
ing he found three fish killed by his gun" |
Nineteen others were picked up one of which |
the author took to Mr. c. F. Holder for identi- !
dlation. The theory advanced is that they had |
been carried into the Salton Sea by the Colo |
RADIO. and had sought the colder water of the |
Whitewater at a time of freshet The river |
substdtne they had been caught in pocket |
which. drying up rapidly. LETT them stranded |
until their futile struggles to escape attracted !
the attention Of the astonished sportsman.
Strange too are the geysers, the reptiles, the |
plant life the storms, mirages and illusions Of
the desert. one cherished illusion which the
author dispels is that whiskey is good for the |
poisonous bites of the rattlesrakes. scorpions. |
tarantulas and centipedes that find congeniaI
habitat in the desert He tells interesting tales |
Of the Indians of the early pathfnders, of the
famous stage line and its drivers. of the miners |
and prospectors, of the salt and borax gath
erers. and Of his own expeditions and explora-
tons into is wilds and its oases. The reclama-
ton OF the desert takes up good deal of the
space in the second volume. To the efforts of
the irrigating engineers to use some OF the
water Of the Colorado is due the existence
Of the Salton Sea. 4 sudden rise of the river
enlarged and broke through the artificial cut
until the whole volume Of the stream poured
into the basin Immense dams have been built
10 turn the river back into its proper chan
mel, but yet they have proved ineffective.
q Mr. n niO |