THE BOTTOM OF THE BOWL 



45 



No doubt the tenure of the sea in this Salton 

 Basin was of long duration. The sand-dunes 

 still standing along the northern shore fifty 

 feet high and shining like hills of chalk 

 were not made in a month ; nor was the long 

 shelving beach beneath them still covered 

 with sea-shells and pebbles and looking as 

 though washed by the waves only yesterday 

 formed in a day. Both dunes and beach are 

 plainly visible winding across the desert for 

 many miles. The southwestern shore, stretch- 

 ing under a spur of the Coast Range, shows the 

 same formation in its beach -line. The old 

 bays and lagoons that led inland from the sea, 

 the river-beds that brought down the surface 

 waters from the mountains, the inlets and nat- 

 ural harbors are all in place. Some of them 

 are drifted half full of sand, but they have not 

 lost their identity. And out in the sea-bed 

 still stand masses of cellular rock, honeycombed 

 and water- worn (and now for many years wind- 

 worn), showing the places where once rose the 

 reefs of the ancient sea. 



These are the only records that tell of the 

 sea's occupation. The Indians have no tra- 

 dition about it. Yet when the sea was there 

 the Indian tribes were there also. Along the 



Sea-beaches 

 on desert. 



Harbors 

 and reefs. 



