PREFACE-DEDICATION xi 



board and chart her beauties with square and 

 compasses. One can give his impression and 

 but little more. Perhaps I can tell you some- 

 thing of what I have seen in these two years of 

 wandering; but I shall never be able to tell 

 you the grandeur of these mountains, nor the 

 glory of color that wraps the burning sands at 

 their feet. We shoot arrows at the sun in vain ; 

 yet still we shoot. 



And so it is that my book is only an excuse 

 for talking about the beautiful things in this 

 desert world that stretches down the Pacific 

 Coast, and across Arizona and Sonora. The 

 desert has gone a-begging for a word of praise 

 these many years. It never had a sacred poet ; 

 it has in me only a lover. But I trust that you, 

 and the nature-loving public you represent, will 

 accept this record of the Colorado and the 

 Mojave as at least truthful. Given the facts 

 perhaps the poet with his fancies will come 



hereafter. 



JOHN C. VAN DYKE. 



LA NORIA VERDE 

 FEBRUARY, 1901. 



