- 350 Recent Literature. [ZOE 
region.* ‘Most of the articles about Death Valley which I have 
seen lately are gross exaggerations. There is a strange disposition 
among prospectors in that country to make Death Valley a more 
terrible place than it is and a terra incognita, and so make heroes 
of themselves. In fact, every part of Death Valley has been 
thoroughly explored. Travel through it is dangerous in the sum- 
mer, but in the fall, winter and spring it may be traveled as safely 
as any desert region, * * * The climate during part of the 
year is as pleasant as in San Francisco. During the fall, winter and 
spring it is about the climate of the San Joaquin Valley. The days 
are not hot and the nights are seldom extremely cold. I have 
known it to snow in winter and have seen ice an eighth of an inch 
thick formed during the night. * * * The weather is extremely 
hot between the middle of May and the middle of September. 
* %* | have heard stories of prospectors perishing, but have no 
direct knowledge of any instances, though many have died on the ~ 
Mojave desert.’’ 
Mr. C. W. Craig also writes ¢ a cheerful account of Death Valley, 
and thanks are due him for lightening the load of care and mis- 
representation under which the public have labored since the first 
~ news of the proposed exploration. He says: “ To one who knows 
the locality of springs in the surrounding hills there is no difficulty 
in going from one to another, and there is no portion of Death 
Valley that cannot be safely crossed by a man on foot with an 
ordinary canteen of water. The greatest danger to be encountered 
in the desert waste is from dry bogs, appearing like ashes, but in 
reality composed of alkali, dry salt, soda and borax. In thesea 
man. or animal will sink as in quicksand ; they lie in spots and may 
be readily avoided. The published tales of extreme and suffocating 
heat are largely without foundation in fact. In the winter water is 
plentiful, and the greatest drawback to a prospector is that he must 
_charter an extra burro to carry blankets sufficient to keep him from 
freezing during the night.” W. E. B. 
Notes on Collections of Mammals made in Central and Southern 
Mexico by Dr. Audley C. Buller, with Descriptions of New Species _ 
of the Genera Vespertilio, Sciurus and Lepus. By J. A. ALLEN. 
*San Francisco Chronicle, January 25, 1891. 
tSan Francisco Chronicle, Jan. 23, 1891. _ 
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