8 ‘ Bird - Lore
Extract from Journal of Elliott Coues’ First Journey to the West*
“July 8, 186+.—We read of the delightful and equable climate of New Nlexico: but we live and learn. Last night we shivered under blankets, and blew our numb fingers this morning. By ten o'clock it was hot; at eleven, hotter; twelve. it was as hot as—it could be. The cold nights stiffen our bones, and the hot days blister our noses, crack our lips and bring our eye-bulls to a standstill. Today we have traversed a sandy desert; no water last night for our worn-out animals, and very little grass. The ‘sand-storms’ are hard to bear, (or the fine particles cut like ground glass: but want of water is hardest of all. For some time it has been a long day's march from one spring or pool to another; and 0c asinnally more; and then the liquid we find is nauseating, charged with alkali. tepid. and so muddy that we cannot see the bottom of a tin cup through it Here at our noon~day halt there is not a tree—scarcely a bush—in sight, and the sun is doing his perpendicular best In the Sibley tent the heat is simply insupportable, and we are lying curled up like rabbits in tlle slight shade we tan find in the rain-washed crevices of the ‘Well,’ Jacob’s Well is an undisguised blessing, and, as such, a curiosity. It is an enormous hole in the ground, right in the midst of a bare, flat plain; one might pass within a hundred yards and never sus- pect anything about it. The margin is nearly circular, and abruptly defined; the sides very steep—almost perpendicular in most places; but a path, evidently worn by men and animals, descends spirally, winding nearly half way around before reaching the bottom. It is, in fact, a great funnel, a hundred yards wide at the brim, and about half as deep; and at the bottom there is a puddle of green, slimy water. Tradition goes, of course, that this is a ‘ bottomless pit;‘ and as the water had not perceptiny diminished after all our party and five hundred mules and cattle had had their fill, the story may go for what it is worth. The water is bad enough—warm, and probably muddy, though the mud is not visible, owing to the rich green color of the dubious liquid. It contains, however, some suspicious looking creatures, ‘four-legged fishes,’ said the man who caught several with hook and line. They suck the bait like catfish, and look something like them, barring the legs and long, fringe— like gillsfl
"It is a scene of utter desolation; our bodily discomfort begets vague
- ln L‘onnrclion wmi llK‘ pmmliug account by Captain Curtis the following extract min Coucs' journal
mile on rim march describe-L is or cspecml interest, It is reprinted imru the 'Amcriczn Naturalist' lot June. [871.
lThcy arc the Amblyrlmrm nebularum, a kind at haxrachian related to in: salamandcrs and trimns or our brooks. The body is shining green abuvc. with a few indistinct black spots, and silvery while below; eye: and gills black; a yellow rim about the legs. They can live a lonz time out of water. as their siriu seems to exude
- sort 0' perspiration that keeps them cool and moisl. 0m) rim was quire dry and seemed mil. revived on
being placed in u but:ch oi water.
