DEPRESSIONS IN THE EARTH'S SURFACE. 161 



deepest of these is in San Diego county, a hundred 

 miles south of Los Angeles. It bears the name of 

 Dry Lake or San Felipe basin, and is 365 feet below 

 sea-level, being the third, as regards depth, of known 

 depressions in the earth's surface. The Southern 

 Pacific Railway, beyond Fort Yuma, runs along the 

 border of the depression, Indio being the station 

 where the tourist may stop to visit the bottom of the 

 basin. On the borders of the Lacustrine bed a few 

 fruit-bearing date-palms lift their heads, showing that 

 the arid environment is not unsuited to the nature of 

 the trees. 



Since the railroad was constructed, extensive mills 

 have been erected in the dry valley for grinding and 

 putting up salt for commercial purposes, and hundreds 

 of tons are shipped every month. Indio, 20 feet be- 

 low sea level, is already visited by consumptives, 

 rheumatics and asthmatics; and accommodations for 

 permanent residence in the deeper levels of the de- 

 pression are contemplated. The theory has been ad- 

 vanced that those persons who suffer from respiratory 

 troubles may breathe easier in the condensed atmos- 

 phere of the low-level of the valley. 



A few miles to the east of Indio are some geysers 

 and mud volcanoes which have acquired a reputation 

 for benefitting patients once consigned for treatment 

 to the Hot Springs of Arkansas. Thermal waters 

 coming directly from the bowels of the earth are 

 every-where presumed to be curative, though their 

 therapeutic qualities are apt to be overestimated. How- 

 ever, steaming geyser water, bubbling baths of mud, 

 with the dense atmosphere of a valley 350 feet below 

 sea-level, may offer a combination of attractions not 

 presented to invalids elsewhere. 



