GEOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY OF LOWER CALIFORNIA. 987 



shaped, very pretty pink flower showed up ia strong contrast with 

 the general dreariness of the land. An "ice plant," an insignificant 

 little thing growing close to the soil, of a green and wine red color, 

 covered all over with jelly-like drops or tubercles, added also a slight 

 amount of attractiveness, or at least gave interest to the scene. Small 

 lizards darted about, and an occasional quail, jack or cotton-tail rabbit, 

 a few butterflies, a large species of ichneumon fly, a few grasshoppers 

 (some species of CEdipoda), and a black yellow-spotted spider which 

 builds strong webs on the shrnbs, were about all that was visible in 

 the way of animal and insect life, though in the soil, at the foot of the 

 shrubs, I found occasional empty spiral shells of a land mollusk, the 

 Helix stearnsiana of Gabb. After leaving San Quentin nothing what- 

 ever in the way of reptile life was seen, although immediately about 

 San Quentin a species of rattlesnake was said to be quite abundant. 

 Beyond Rosario, with the exception of quail and mountain sheep and 

 antelope well over to the east coast, no forms whatever of wild animals 

 were observed, and even the numerous burrows of small nocturnal 

 mammals, so abundant toward the north, were almost entirely lacking. 

 About dusk we reached the divide which marks the limit of the desert 

 here, and went rattling down the steep sandy slopes toward El Eosario 

 mission and the sluggish shallow stream of the same name, but digni- 

 fied in this country of arid wastes by the name of river. 



We reached the bottom just about that hour when it is too dark to 

 see anything distinctly, to find a flat valley, perhaps a mile in width, 

 hedged in on either side by steep bluffs of bare friable sandstone, and 

 covered, where not cultivated, by a dense growth of greenish, pungent- 

 smelling, almost leafless shrubs and a few willows. The short twilight 

 came quickly to an end and left us lost, stuck in the sand in a dense 

 growth of brush, from whence we were finally extricated through the 

 aid of a Mexican, and about 9.30 p. m. found our way to an adobe hut, 

 where we spent the night. 



Five o'clock the following morning, July 21, found us once more astir. 

 While the head of the party was making arrangements for jiack and 

 saddle animals, I improved the opportunity to utilize notebook and 

 camera. El Rosario (Plate 2) consists of a few adobe huts scattered 

 for a mile or more along the nearly level plains bordering on the river. 

 From a historical standpoint its most interesting possession is the ruin 

 of an old Franciscan mission, such as were once so abundant through- 

 out the Mexican- Spanish possessions on this coast. The original build- 

 ings are now almost entirely obliterated, only portions of the thick, 

 massive adobe walls remaining standing. A small building of modern 

 construction now contains the altar, crude images of the saints which 

 resemble nothing more than grotesquely large wooden dolls, and 

 ancient vestments, such as have escaped destruction. Two bells, each 

 about 20 inches in height, are hung upon a T-shaped post made from 

 the knees and other timbers of a wrecked vessel. One of these bells 



