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- . ■ —A Caus-oknia Wondkr—27ms Dead Sea of Mono.— The Austin (Nev.) lt.-ve.H-, ha? the following:There irre many things in the (ireut. Jtisiu, or along its rim, that excite the int riest of travel era. A eorre- ; spondont asks ns lo tell him whether Mono Lake is j actually the ‘dead S.'s,' it is reported to be 'i I am told ! that its bitter waters are fat.il to nil living things. ]; • yon cmi, will you please say something about that singular body of water?” We gather from the ‘'report j on the mineral resources of the States* and territories j west of the llocky mountains,” that .Mono Lake lies ten i miles south west of the dividing line between California and Nevada, and is about fourteen miles wide and nine long. Il has never liven sounded, but a trial said to bave been made with a line 3'KJ I'eet long failed to lenrh the bottom. I*y chttmicul analysis n gallon of water, weighing eight pounds, was found to contain 1 -O.i grains of solid jn.ttr.er, consisting principally of eliloridc of sodium, earbouate of soda, sulphate of soda, borax and silica.These substances render the water so acrid :ind nauseating dial it is unlit for drinking or even filching.I.ember immersed in it is soon destroyed by ils coro-sire properties, and no animal, not even a fish or a bog, can exist isi the water for more tJuiu a short time. The only thing uble to live within or upon the waters of this lake is a species of fly, which, springing from I the lavfc bi’ed in its bosom, after a» ephemeral life, dies, COili'iMiitgOn the siij-iace, is drifted to the .'11010, | « here the i vm iiits collect in vast quuiiriiics, and arc j fed upon by the ducks or gathered lv the Indians, j with whom they arc a staple of food. Nestling under j the eastern water shed ol the Sierra, Mono Luke re- j wives several considerable tributaries; and, although ] destitute of any outlet. Such is the aridity of the at-j mosphcre that, if is always kept at nearly uniform level i by ihe process of cynp'oraliob. So dense and .dugglisli is the water rend'rid through super-saturation with various salts and other foreign matters, that only the strongest winds raise n riple on its surface.As she Ru-tra i:i this neighborhood roaches nearly its greates*. altitude, the scenery about Mono Lake is v.ilied and majestic, some part* of it being nl the same i time m.uked by a most cheerless and desoi ile aspect. The hitter and fatal waters of this l.iko render it literally a dead sea, and all its surroundings—wild, gloomy j and foreboding—are suggestive of storrslity and death.) Tt.e decomposing section of the water is shown by its el’eeis upon the bodies of a company of Indians,'vvvnly Or thirty in number, who, while seeking to escape from ihcir while pur.urers, took refuge in the hike, where they were hot by their enemies, who left them in the water. In the course of a few weeks not a ve.'Ugc of their bodies .is to be seen, even the bones having been decomposed by this powerful solvent. Mineral curiosities abound in the neighborhood of Mono L.iko, among which arc millibar I cm deposits in the sh ipe of lih v pino trees.- — *©• ' —
Newspaper Details
The South Western
Shreveport, Louisiana, US
Wed, Jan 20, 1869
Page 4
Full Page
Clipped by
Dean T.
USA 28 Nov 2022
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