Evening star., 1924-09-14

from a few inches to or 10 feet
in width.
At one point the climbers could
go no farther unless they crossed
yawning chasm on a splinter of ice
which was less than . feet wide.
The Mexican guides balke ed, and only
after great persuasion--and prayers
for their divine protection-would
they consent to follow DIR. Nelson
across the slippery bridge. A mis-
step meant plunge to certain death
more than 100 feet below
In ascending one of the Mexican
mountains, Dr. Nelson was Temporal
rily blinded by some poisonous berries
that he had eaten. Instead of be-
coming panicky. he stopped his horse
and reasoned the matter out He
decided that the horse would return
down the perilouS trail to camp far
below. if given free rein. And that
is exactly what Dobbin did. AS
result, DR. Nelson is alive today to
tell the tale.
TYR. NELSON was one of the first
white men who ever ventured to
explore Death Valley in California.
Later he led a horseback party of ex-
plorers over 2,OU0-mile route
through Lower California. AS re-
suit the first comprehensive account
of that peninsula with the most de-
tailed map prepared up to that time
was published.
The water holes in that country
are 40 to 80 miles apart and the
greatest difficulty experienced by
every exploring party was to locate
these extra ordinary drinking foun-
tains.
In one particularly dangerous sec
Nv
once elected to travel. Their OBJ
jective was water hole 30 miles
away The going was difficult
through the loose. drifting sand. The
scientists began the trip at o'clock
in the morning. There was no trail
but they followed wagon tracks
which had been made three years
previous. The vegetation had not
grown up where the wagon wheels
comparatively easy to follow.
After a hard trip the party reached
the water hole. but found it very
foul. They spent several hours In
cleaning it out before the water was
fit to drink. The following morn
ing when the cook went to the spring
he found it again dirty and then dis
covered that it was the swimming
pool for dozens of buZzards. which
to enjoy their daily plunge.
1t was while in Californ u that DR..
Nelson came the closest to death
during his life of thrills. For some
reason he was called Unexpectedly
to a distant ranch. There was but
one horse available for the trip, a
wild stallion which none of the cow
boys had ever been able to ride sue
cessfully. The naturalist jumped on
the horse.
All went we'll until the railroad
| was reached. The horse became ter
rified. took the bit in its teeth and
dashed madly down the middle Of
the tracks. DR.. Nelson tried to curb
| the steed, but the bride broke. The
stallion continued the runaway
gallop for more than a mile.
Far ahead the scientist could see
He was sure that the horse would
dash wildly into these distractions
| Instead it leaped into the embank-
| ment cut that abutted the track and
continued the mad race.
Finally the Steed turned toward a
| clump Of trees. 1t ran under a large
tree with outspread. low-hanging
! limbs. Standing in the stirrupS DIR.
Nelson was just able to grasp d limb
| and swing free of the saddle. The
| stallion continued the wild journey
x X X 4:
THESE are but a few of the many
exciting exploits of man uni
versally recognized as one of Amer
| ica's greatest naturalists. During an
| active lifetime of adventure and ro-
| nance, DR.. Nelson has also found time
| to write much valuable scientific