94 
THE SCIENTIST. 
(xoveritment's Expedition to Death 
Yiilley. 
Death Valley is a narrow strip of burning 
salt and alkali crust, extending north and 
south between two precipitous walls of 
mountains, the Amargosa and Panamint 
ranges. Those who have visited it say that 
it is beyond human powers of description to 
picture the wholly unnatural scene to be be 
held there — the vast stretches of white p'ain 
veriegated with black lava, the alluring 
mirages, the strange appearance of the tower- 
ing hills outlined like the backbones of 
monstrous beasts against the yellow sky, 
the total absence of trees, the dearth of 
animal life, and the intense heat, from 
which there is no escape. Here and there, 
too, are pebble beds miles in extent, made 
of agate, moss-agate, chalcedony, jasper and 
obsidian. 
THIS ASTONISHING DESERT, 
however, is by no means so devoid of life as 
its aspect by daylight would lead the obver- 
ver to imagine. As soon as night falls it is 
all aswarm with creatures of various sorts. 
Countless lizards come out of the burrows 
to look for insect prey, snakes wriggle across 
the alkali crust; horned toads creep about; 
and scorpions and tarantulas of enormous 
size sharpen their claws for combat. Rats, 
mice and squirrels trot about in active pur- 
suit of game, and wildcats and coyotes for- 
sake their lairs on the mountain sides and 
roam over the plain in pursuit of all sorts of 
smaller animals. It is a nocturnal popula- 
tion, simply because the heat is so great as 
to forbid going out in the daytime. 
The Government has recently sent an ex- 
pedition to this dismal hole and large con- 
signments of dead creatures illustrating 
what it has thus far accomplished in the 
study of the life of that amazing region have 
reached the Department of Agriculture at 
Washington. The collections thus far re- 
ceived here include 2368 mammals, besides 
numerous birds, reptiles, insects and other 
specimens. It is desired by the scient'fic 
authorities in charge to find out just what 
animal and vegetable life is alle to preserve 
existence under conditions so extraordinarily 
unfavorable as are found in this desert of 
horror, the like of which is not found any- 
where else in the world. 
The Death Valley expediiion has not at- 
tempted to encamp upon the deserc itself 
for the sake of securing specimens. It has 
been obliged to content itself with pitching 
tents about the edge, at the fe t of the 
mountains, making brief expeditions across 
the torrid plain, setting traps, and returning 
as quickly as possible: By this method the 
traps c HI d be emptied and set agiin with- 
out much loss of time. Th^s is uf consi- 
queace in Deith Valley, where a man re- 
quires two gallons of water daily to keep 
him from dying of thirst, and even then is a 
sufferer. Little traps of very simple auvl 
most admirable pattern are employed for 
catching the small main n.ils. Two or three 
dozen of the.n can be conveniently cr-rried 
in the pockets of one's coat, and the game 
coveted can enter from any side. Each 
one is hardly more than a v/ire spring, in- 
geniously contrived, so that the quadrupedal 
victim is not obliged to enter a hole, sees no 
danger, and does not dream of peril until he 
is caught. Corn meal is employed for bait 
and is found most fetching. For the large 
mammals the gun must be brought into re- 
quisition, while the reptiles, unusually slow 
of movemen'', are readily gathered in. Of 
birds there aie very few in the neighborhood 
of Death Valley, though the raven, that 
funeral fowl, is very plentiful in the woods 
that skirt its edge, crying with mournful 
notes for the many travelers whose dried 
corpses are scaUered over the burning level. 
As before stated nearly all of the 
creatures found in this valley are noctur- 
nal in their habits, because they are 
not able to venture out in the day- 
time on account of the great heat. Among 
them are three species of ground squirrels, 
which live in burrows and feed at night up- 
on roots, leaves and seeds of plants. One 
of them often climbs the stalks for the pur- 
pose of getting at the seeds. At other 
