Camp-Fires on Desert and Lava (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from Camp-Fires on Desert and LavaPrimarily, the expedition described in the following pages was an exploration of a genuine terra incognita. While it is true that the Pinacate region was known to a few Papago Indians and perhaps half a dozen Mexicans, to the reading and thinking world it was totally unknown; and the more we gathered maps and inquired about it, the less we knew. On all available maps the space around the Pinacate dot was a blank, and usually the dot itself was far out of place. There was not a soul who knew enough about the country to say "lava."Naturally, the animal and plant life of the Pinacate region was as much unknown as its geography; hence our combination of botanist, zoologist, sportsman, and geographer. In any wild country, that is "a good hand to draw to," and with the three jolly good fellows whose company I shared, I could enjoy exploring any country this side of the Styx. Indeed, I would take my chances with them beyond it.Ever since it was my good fortune to see the Rocky-Mountain big-horn at its culminating point in British Columbia, I had been keenly desirous of studying that species at the point where its progress southward is stopped by fierce heat, and scanty food and water.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.