th of Nevada's vanishing point. Nowadays one may ride almost into the valley in a Pullman coach. From Daggett, a forsaken station of the Santa Fé Railroad, a "jerkwat

nta Fé Railway, and no Daggett-just a wide stretch of desert dotted with yucca and Spanish bayonet. Prospectors and pack-trains had left tra

southward is Paradise Valley, a plain desert strewn with greasewood and chamiso; and down in the floor of Death Valley is, or rather was, Greenland. But Greenland is not a waste of icebound coldness; on the contrary, it is averred by the laborers in the borax fi

ost certain death. The best equipment for the trip was a pair of mules, or else cayuse ponies, and a light buckboard with broad tires-tires so wide that th

er in the channel, or "wash," of the Mohave? Perhaps the oldest settler may have seen it; at any rate he will so claim, for the oldest settler is always boastful; indeed, fairy-story telling is his inheren

t mirage, but it seems real enough to quench a genuine thirst. But the illusion is lessened by the surroundings, for we are approaching

h the sun's motion. On our right a trail diverges to Coyote Holes, made grewsome by one of many tragedies that have occurred in the region. This time it was a hold-up. A desert waif out of luck and ready cash waylaid th

covered and lay there while the posse searched. But the keen vision of an Indian scout did not fail. When the robber

. In time we camp at Cave Springs in a little cove of the Avawatz Buttes. Once there came along a man who all said was half-witted. Perhaps he was, but his intelligence was keen enough to prompt

ake a small supply along, as the water there is unfit for either man or beast. There is a difference be

mule bo

TO

ht feed, where most unexpectedly we find some excellent grazing for our horses. By daylight we are at the Springs and in a locality much like the Bad Lands of

the Amargosa River. Sometimes, when a dissipated cloud tumbles its contents into the region, the Amargosa is

f life, not even the horned-toad or the trail of the kangaroo-rat is to be seen. Half a dozen graves marked each by a wooden cross or a rock monument are in sight. Who are they? Ask the simoom that sweeps lik

ntinel Peaks beyond Death Valley in the Panamint Mountains loom above the

red and fifty feet below sea level. Once upon a time, it is thought, the Gulf of California reached so far inland that it included this gash. Then

as if to hide from the burning rays of the sun; where Death by name and by nature gives forth no warning note, and even a mountain range o

Panamint Mountains, which rise to the height of ten thousand feet. The climate is cool and salubrious in winter, but is a

ts bound for California overland were wont to follow the same general route as far as Salt Lake City. From here there were two routes,

they left the regular trail and decided to turn southwesterly and cross a fairly level mesa. The region was unknown to them, but they believed that by thus changing the route they would be able to reach their destination more quickly. They als

d Funeral Range of mountains. Nothing daunted, they laboriously toiled up to the crest with their teams. On looking down their hearts sank within them a

y had finished the task darkness had shut down and, gathering sufficient greasewood brush to make a fire, they cooked their evening meal with a scanty supply of

r incredible hardships from lack of both food and water, about one-half of the company of thirty souls that crossed the Funeral Range reached the settlements alive. Succumbing to their sufferings

As he was wending his course along one of the canyons he came across a spring, and, being both thirsty and tired, after taking a drink sat down to rest. While sitting there he c

Bennett therefore sought a gunsmith, whom he requested to make a sight out of the metal

circumstance gave rise to the celebrated "Gunsight Lead," a phantom that was chased in ever

eprived of water even for an hour become insane. Men who have attempted to cross it at mid-d

A cloud-burst may change the whole face of the mountain. Cloud-bursts come usually in the hottest weather and almost with the suddenness of an explosion. A swiftly moving black cloud tipped with fiery stre

eyond the reach of the roaring waters, and of others being overwhelmed and drowned. Such a flood, caused by a cloud

ountains look darker, a vague, indescribable sensation comes over one-an awe-inspiring feeling of insignificance and helplessness amidst scenes of majestic desolation. If religiously inclined, one is prone to utter the words of the wandering Arab of the Sahara, "Nothing exists

wagons drawn by mules; indeed, "twenty-mule-team borax" has become almost a household term. Borax is still mined here, but not so extens

lifornia and Nevada. When borax was first discovered in California the wholesa

wenty-five years, until now it is used for more than fifty different purposes. The meat-packers of the United States alone use

a tract of alfalfa, a small garden, and a few trees; and the small ranch, a veritable oasis in a desert, is rightly called Greenland. A

completion of the Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad, whic