THE COLORADO DESERT. 387 



on every train for about a hundred miles. Trains going both ways 

 take one or more tank-cars, for the supply of section-hands and engines. 

 In the well referred to, water was finally reached, and in such quanti- 

 ties that the flow could not be stopped. It ran for three days, flood- 

 ing the whole country for miles around, and then stopped, and has not 

 run since. The water of this well had the same sulphur taste and 

 smell as that now found at Volcano. 



Just beyond Flowing- Well Station, the road runs along a chain of 

 most desolate sand-hills. These continue for twenty miles. During 

 severe winds, which are of frequent occurrence, the sand drifts over 

 the track very rapidly, and in a few hours covers it to the depth of a 

 foot or more. It has been found necessary to have a relay of men 

 constantly on the ground, and every day they are engaged in clear- 

 ing the track. The engineers are warned of their approach to these 

 bad places by large posts, with the word " sand " painted on them, and 

 must then take extra care. 



There are many things to indicate that at one period the lowest 

 portion of the desert was covered with water, forming an extensive 

 lake. In places the character of the soil is such that there can be no 

 doubt that it was deposited in still water. It is as soft and fine as 

 powdered chalk, and not a stone can be found for long distances. "We 

 pass in one place, quite suddenly, from a gravelly, stony soil to one 

 which is neither. It seems to mark the shore or boundary of the 

 lake, and here the ground is covered with shells of various species. 

 Anodonta Calif omiensis, Amnicola lonyinquas, Tryonea protect, and 

 Physa humerosa, are very common, and all of them are living in West- 

 ern waters at the present day. Then, again, we come to piles of stones, 

 all water-worn, and shdwing the former presence of water where now 

 there is not a drop. 



Where has the water gone to ? There can be no doubt that vol- 

 canic action has had much to do with its disappearance. Black, lava- 

 like stones are found in huge streams, as they might be called, extend- 

 ing for miles. Pumice-stone is found in large quantities in many 

 places, and great blocks of lava are said to lie at the foot of the moun- 

 tains bordering the desert, some twenty-five miles away. The pres- 

 ence of the volcanic spring, already referred to, is corroborative evi- 

 dence of volcanic action. There is still a large body of salt-water 

 lying at a considerable depth under the surface. At Mammoth-Tank 

 Station the railroad company has been engaged for some time past in 

 boring a well. They had reached a depth of thirteen hundred and 

 fifty feet at the time I passed, and had then found nothing but salt- 

 water. 



It is curious that the various stations on the road have been called 

 after things nowhere to be seen in their immediate neighborhood. 

 Seven Palms takes its name from a group of trees fifteen miles away 

 toward the mountains. Flowing Well is very dry. Mesquite has not 



