362 APPENDIX 



pecially desirable. When the water becomes tepid, addi- 

 tions of this kind make it more palatable to some, and 

 there is less temptation to drink too much. It is well, also, 

 during periods of extreme heat to wrap a wet cloth around 

 the wrists and to put a water-soaked handkerchief in the 

 hat. These are old-fashioned but effective devices. Each 

 person in a party should be supplied with a large canteen, 

 and extra ones should be taken along in the wagons to 

 provide for leaks and accidents. An ample supply of 

 water barrels and kegs should also be carried for use at 

 dry camps and during prospecting trips, the number 

 depending on the amount of stock taken and the route 

 followed. 



"Poison springs," said to contain arsenic, have been 

 reported from many parts of the desert. The writer has 

 examined the water from several of these, but has failed 

 to find any arsenic or similar poison, though he has found 

 large quantities of sulphate of soda (Glaubers salt) and 

 some sulphate of magnesia (Epsom salts). Salt Spring, in 

 South Death Valley, is of this character, and prospectors 

 are known to have perished there, so that the spring is 

 called "poison" by many, but it contains only sodium 

 and magnesium salts, and no arsenic or copper. 



The intense heat of the summer, the exhausted condi- 

 tion of the famished prospector, and the abundance of 

 these harmful salts in the waters are sufficient explana- 

 tion of the deaths that have occurred. Such waters are 

 dangerous to a hearty, healthy man who uses them with 

 the greatest moderation, and they may be quickly fatal 

 to the thirst-tormented sufferer who drinks them without 

 restraint. 



The traveller who is unacquainted with the route over 

 which he is journeying should stop at places where the 

 ground has been cleared of brush and where there is other 

 ample evidence of the presence of many visitors, and sat- 

 isfy himself as to the nature of the camp. It may be a 



