The Heart of the Desert 169 



physical man ; but, in my experience, possibly the 

 strange valley which reaches north from Cochise in 

 the territory is the most remarkable. Little wonder 

 the ancient people had legends of giants and pos- 

 sible genii, as no desert region in America presents 

 so weird an appearance. To the south the eye rests 

 upon a vast lake, which can be seen ten or twelve 

 miles distant from the slopes of the mountains, 

 and when I first saw it, its beauty was entrancing. 

 Away to the south, on its borders, were hills of 

 purple, each reflected as clearly as though photo- 

 graphed, and still beyond rose the caps and summits of 

 other peaks and mountains rising from this inland sea, 

 whose waters were of turquoise ; yet, as we moved down 

 the slope, the lake was always stealing on before. It 

 was of the things dreams are made of, that has driven 

 men mad and to despair, its bed a level floor of alkali 

 and clay, covered with a dry, impalpable dust that the 

 slightest wind tossed and whirled in air. No more 

 beautiful mirage can be seen in this country if one cares 

 to visit the region in August. As I watched this lake of 

 the imagination, I saw the rise of the genii of Cochise 

 from its mirror-like surface. Like the giant of Sindbad, 

 from the flask of the fisherman, they rose upward in weird 

 and colossal shapes, then moved slowly off over the sur- 

 face to the south. On my last visit to this valley in mid- 

 summer of 1903, this marvellous scene was at its best, 

 and from fifty to one hundred sand or dust-spouts or 

 columns could be seen sweeping down this valley of 



