Again, in this thirst-cursed region, which knows not the blessing of the shower, sometimes occur terrible cloudbursts which send solid walls of water tearing down the mountain-sides, carrying death and destruction in its wake. [Illustration: INDIAN CHIEF LYING IN STATE From photograph by C. C. Pierce & Co.] Nor are these all of the possible dangers. In this great drug warehouse arise deadly vapors, and the passing winds whirl clouds of poisonous dust through the air, which, if inhaled, will eat the vitals and eventually rob one of life. Notwithstanding the terrible character of this valley, there is an instance where two persons sought it for the express purpose of cheating death. A Brooklyn lawyer named Whittaker, and his wife, were both stricken with consumption. By advice of their doctors they sought the Pacific coast, going to Los Angeles. Physicians there advised them to seek a drier climate; therefore, in a wagon equipped with a camping outfit and a supply of the necessities of life, they sought the Great Mojave Desert. Here, indeed, was air dry enough for their purpose. They drove from oasis to oasis, and soon found themselves growing better and stronger, notwithstanding the privations they were forced to endure. They determined to make their home somewhere in that vast solitude, but where was a question yet to be decided. They continued to wander over the barren wastes till one day they came to the gateway to the terrible valley of death. It is not certain that they were aware of the identity of the locality. Be that as it may, the horses were directed valleyward and they passed through the portals which have admitted so many and discharged so few. Inside the valley they found a man guarding a borax mine which had been closed down because men could not be found to brave the perils of the valley to operate it. Here Whittaker and his wife rested a few days and then they pressed on into the valley. Their host tried to induce them to turn back, but they would not heed him. Onward they journeyed till they found a little cañon in the side of the mountain which formed a portion of one of walls of the valley, and this spot they named home and made there a permanent camp. This was in 1893 or 1894. Seven years later the woman died. Whittaker continued to live in the old home, but the loss of his wife, coupled with the solitude, the heat, and the poisons of the atmosphere, was too much for his reason and he went mad. In this condition he was found by a prospector--mad, but rich, for the floor of his cabin was thickly littered with golden nuggets.