A Desert Fishing Pool 387 



surface at points, and the old Yuma stage road 

 to San Diego was fifteen feet under water. Fifty 

 miles from Yuma in a direct line, but after 

 sailing one hundred and fifty miles of detours 

 and runs, the navigator shot by the old stage 

 station of Alamo Muchos. Ten miles from here 

 lie met another stream, half a mile wide and 

 twenty feet deep. It was most erratic ; now mov- 

 ing slowly, then without warning rushing on 

 with frightful force. Suddenly the river turned 

 and flowed in the direction of Yuma, coming out 

 in a few miles into a large lake, where the water 

 spread away, shutting out the desert completely. 

 The stream often divided and became several 

 rivers, forming here dangerous rapids and falls 

 where it cut through the sand dunes. In some 

 places the walls of the stream were one hundred 

 feet high ; again, just at the surface ; but every- 

 where, the soft treacherous sand was being eaten 

 up, swallowed by the devastating water. 



Suddenly the boat was seized by a mad cur- 

 rent, whirled about, tossed into an enormous 

 whirlpool, capsizing it, most of the provisions 

 being lost. They soon passed into a lake twenty- 

 five miles square, dotted here and there with 

 dark objects which proved to be the tops of 

 trees. Leaving this lake by a river flowing west, 

 they narrowly escaped a sheer fall of eighteen 

 feet. This necessitated landing, and the boat 

 was pulled upon the beach and the party camped 



