" THE LEAVES OF THE TREE Were FOR THE HEALING OF THE NATIONS." 27 



animals twice as much as customary. But little good water is found, as most of the 

 water holes or springs are charged with alum, arsenic or borax. On the follow- 

 ing day after my arrival at Daggett, I left, equipped with an outfit consisting 

 of buckboards, mules and a guide. We crossed what is known as the link 

 of the Mojave river and journeyed for five days over a region destitute of 

 vegetation or animal life, with the exception of a growth here and theie of dwarfed 

 cacti. The oppressiveness of this desolation and extreme solitude must be ex- 

 perienced to be understood. Nameless graves of poor unfortunates who attempted 

 to cross the desert during its heated term are the only break in this dreary monot- 

 ony, and every year new mounds of earth, marked only with a stick or a stone, 

 show the spot where some adventurous prospector perished from thirst and the ex- 

 cessive heat and was buried by strangers. 



"Desert travel during the summer months is attended with extreme danger, and 

 can only be accomplished by traveling at night and camping during the heat of the 

 day at some water hole or small oasis. If an accident had occured to our wagon or 

 mules on the desert it would have been a very serious proposition as we were miles 

 from any human habitation and it would have been impossible to have secured 

 other animals or repair a break. On the fifth day out we reached Armargosa, the 

 abandoned borax works of the Pacific Coast Borax Company, and here rested for a 

 few days. It is sixty- two miles from this place to Death Valley and we had to carry 

 water for this entire distance. We occupied two days in this last stretch and we 

 travelled the entire route over a bed of rock and gravel, accumulated by the action 

 of cloudbursts. 



"The entrance to the valley is through a canyon called Furnace-creek wash. We 

 arrived here just before dusk and at an elevation of 5000 feet we obtained the first 

 view of this historical valley. Far toward the west the Paniment mountains stood, 

 forming the wall of that side of the valley. Just behind these western ridges was 

 sinking the ruddy sun, bathing tnis desolate production of God's hand (?) in a purple- 

 tinted light. Moment by moment the shadows crept over this scene of desolation. 

 No sound from the twittering lark or the wild canary forewarned us of the approach- 

 ing night. All was as still as the midnight hour. We prepared our camp, ex- 

 changing hardly a word and glad for the moment when we would become oblivious 

 to these ghostly surroundirgs. The next morning we arrived at the entrance or 

 level of Death Valley and from this point saw for the first time a sand storm. In- 

 cidentally I may remark that these storms during the summer months are very 

 frequent. When we saw it the northern part of the valley was obscured in a brown- 

 ish-colored cloud, which gradually thinned out until it crossed the entire valley. 

 Never at any moment did it entirely obscure the sun, which looked like a mere 

 ghost of itself. The cloud moved with great velocity in our direction and soon ad- 

 vance runners or hot pulls of wind reached us. On arriving at the end of Furnace- 

 creek wash we saw the sand storm in the northern part of the valley. This was 

 shortlj after sunrise. The entire horizon and sky was obscured by the sand and 

 gravel, which were buoyed in an atmosphere oppressively hot and stifling. 



" Soon we were enveloped by a dense cloud of sand, and occasionally as a 

 stronger puff of wind came gravel and even small rocks were hurled into our faces. 

 We covered our heads with blankets, and the mules instinctively turned their tails 

 to the wind. With all these precautions we did not escape, for my guide's face 

 and my own became badly bruised and lacerated. In our exposed position we ex- 

 perienced all the fury of this desert simoon, and as the winds traveled across the 

 alkali sink they increased in heat to such an extent that breathing became a 

 matter of difficulty. This storm lasted two days, and in all this time it was im- 

 possible to move from our position. We had to camp here for that period, being 

 unable to light any fires or prepare meats. Most of this time we were covered 

 with blankets and literally starved. I never want to undergo that ordeal again. 

 This was in the fall. The puffs of wind were so intensely hot and suffocating that 

 they can be likened to blasts from a furnace, and seemed to draw the very breath 

 from our bodies. The storm piled the sand around our wgon and covered every- 

 thing. Occasionally looking down into the valley, we could see a large sand augur 

 or spout waltzing hither and thither over the country, carrying the sand and 

 alkali dust high into the air. Though this storm was exceedingly severe to a nov- 

 ice like myself, it is incomparable to the ones that sweep over this country in mid- 



