| OCR Text |
Show Finds Death Trees, Feared by Indians, Tribesmen Also Claim Aid in Gambling "Trees of death," gnarled shrubs which are held in superstitious awe by Indians, have been discovered in a lonely canyon. John W. Hilton, authority on desert des-ert lore, has disclosed that he found the trees after a long fight to overcome over-come superstitious fears of Indians. The sap of the "tree of death," or elephant tree, is believed by the Cahuilla Indians to be a deadly poison poi-son for doing away with enemies quietly, Mr. Hilton said. They also believe, he said, that in the hands of medicine men it can drive away evil spirits and that, if prepared and used properly, it gives extra keen perception in playing pion and other gambling games. The recently discovered trees are believed to be the farthest north on record. "Knowing better than to ask direct di-rect questions about the fabled trees, I had to wait until some Indian In-dian told me about the whole affair," af-fair," Mr. Hilton said. "Finally the son-in-law of a very old and powerful power-ful medicine man claimed to know where the tree was and agreed to ;Td me to the spot for $5. "High up in the canyon we stopped, but the Indian, saying that the wind was blowing toward us from the tree, took a zig-zag course up a mountain so as to approach the tree from behind. But our search was fruitless. The guide decided de-cided that the tree did not wish to be found, and we went home. "Later, however, a young educated edu-cated Indian took me directly to the tree. "The Indian guide stabbed the trunk of the tree and a blood-like substance oozed out." Mr. Hilton then carefully plucked sample sprouts from the bush and took them to the government date gardens at India, where experts identified them as Bursera mirro-phylla, mirro-phylla, or elephant tree. |
