p. 110 | California Wonders

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Sep 19, 1871

California Wonders.

NEAR the confines of Fresno, Tulare and Inyo Counties, in the vicinity of the head waters of the Keweah, there exists a remarkable piece of country. The Indians say it is the abiding-place of the Evil Spirit. The country is rugged and rocky—mountains, with deep valleys and precipitous cliffs. Snakes and reptiles of every description abound in untold numbers, and, taken in all, it is a wild and most uninviting region. But, aside from this, a most curious phenomenon exists. The ground trembles and quakes almost continuously, and the abundant rocks grind and grit together as if being urged by some terrible influence. Frequently, deep discharges are heard, muffled and dull, like the distant sound of heavy artillery. At night the sounds seem to be more abundant than in the day time. No Indian can be induced to venture near the locality, regarding it with superstitious horror. No theory is advanced by any one to account for the strange phenomena mentioned. We also learn from William Faymonville that above the head of Crane

Valley, in this county, another place similar to the one mentioned exists. Persons who have visited the last place named describe the sounds mentioned as like muffled thunder.—San Francisco Bulletin.