SOUTHERN PACIFIC LINES 255 
There are some groves or this picturesque tree in Palm Canyon, as 
shown in Plate 41, B. The creosote bush (Covillea) extends all the 
way up the valley; but in the more sandy places it is widely spaced 
and greatly stunted. It is the dominant plant near Garnet and 
Cabazon. The Spanish bayonet (Yucca mohavensis) continues west 
and is especially conspicuous near Cabazon. The cacti (mostly 
Opuntia bigelovii, O. basilaris, and O. echinocarpa) extend west along 
the mountain slopes but do not occur low in the basin, where appar- 
ently their altitudinal limit is passed. The ironwood (Olneya tesota) 
is widely distributed on the dry uplands and bears much mistletoe 
(Phoradendron californicum), a parasite which also infests the palo 
verde, mesquite, and other trees. 
In the moist alkaline flats of the lower part of the valley the salt 
bushes (Atriplex canescens and A. polycarpa) and salt grass (Distichlis 
spicata) are the principal plants, and in wet places near springs 
rushes (Juncus cooperi), sedges or tules (Scirpus olneyi), arrowweed 
(Pluchea sericea), and willow (Salix gooddingii) flourish. The willow 
also forms dense thickets along the overflow lands bordering parts 
of the Colorado River. 
The animals and birds in the desert region of southern California 
are the same as in southern Arizona and, except the coyote and 
rabbits, are rarely seen. Large animals occur in the mountains, 
and deer, sheep, and Ginchied are occasionally visible in out of the 
way places. 
From Mundo siding to Mortmar siding the railroad is built largely 
on a bench near the shore of the Salton Sea. A short distance to 
the northeast of the tracks are hills and badlands of tilted sandstone 
and shale of Pliocene age. Some distance beyond rise the rugged 
slopes of the Chocolate and Orocopia Mountains. 
_ At Frink siding is a crusher making “‘Frink rock” for concrete 
from detrital material consisting of boulders, mostly of schist, 
rhyolite, and andesite brought by freshet waters from the mountains. 
The capacity of the plant is 1,500 tons a day. 
About 2% miles northeast of Bertram siding are the ‘‘soda mines,”’ 
where the mineral thenardite, an anhydrous sodium sulphate, with 
hidiraih. a small amount of the hydrous form (Glauber salts), 
peration-15 130 feet. E88 been quarried. The mineral occurs in a 
New Sey peed 3 inches to 8 feet thick in the Pliocene sandstones 
miles. and clays, which here dip about 35° N. The clean 
mineral is more than 99 per cent pure, and the bed has been traced 
for 3,000 feet. Several thousand tons a year has been shipped to 
San Francisco for use in making wood pulp by the sulphite process 
and also in the manufacture of glass. 
From Bertram siding to Mortmar the Orocopia Mountains are 
conspicuous to the north and northeast, culminating in a dark 
