256 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES 
rounded peak about 3,000 feet high, which is visible for a long distance 
in the surrounding country. These mountains consist largely of old 
black schist, but according to Brown andesitic and rhyolitic lavas 
also occur in them. They are separated from the Chocolate Moun- 
tains, to the southeast, by the wide valley of Salton Creek. At 
their south foot, about 5 miles northeast of Salton siding, is Dos 
Palmas Spring (Spanish for two palms), a watering place on the 
old stage road from Ehrenberg to San Bernardino. The water, 
which is somewhat saline, rises in a marshy poo] surrounded by 
rank vegetation, and on its bank is a small clump of Washington 
palms. A strip of loose sand marking the old shore of Lake Cahuilla 
is a notable feature 2 miles south of Dos Palmas Spring. 
There are several notable springs along the southwest side of the 
Salton Basin, due to the escape of ground water under artesian 
pressure. They are marked by clumps of trees that can be seen across 
the valley from the railroad, although the distance is 15 miles. One 
is Kane Spring, nearly due south of Bertram siding. It yields a 
highly mineralized water rising from uptilted Tertiary strata. Another 
about 25 miles farther northwest, is Figtree John Spring, which 
yields good water. It received its name from an Indian who lived 
there for many years in a grove of fig trees. Near by is Fish Spring, 
nearly due south of Mecca, where warm water of poor quality forms a 
large pool and has a flow reported to be 280 gallons a minute. Itis an 
outlet for the artesian flow from the higher part of the Coachella 
Valley. A small fish, Cyprinodon californensis, lives in the warm 
water. Near this spring the water line of old Lake Cahuilla (see p. 
253) makes a well-marked horizontal band of light-colored travertine 
on the rocky slope near the base of the mountains and girdling an 
outlying hill. 
Near Mortmar siding the northwest end of the Salton Sea is 
passed, and in a few miles the route enters the Mecca irrigation dis- 
trict, where an area of considerable extent is irrigated by water 
pumped from wells of moderate depth. 
Most of Coachella Valley is underlain by water-bearing sand and 
gravel, which in the area below sea level yield artesian flows to many 
wells. Some water is also raised by pumping. The wells are mostly 
about Mecca, Thermal, Coachella, ‘and Indio, where the water is 
used extensively for irrigation. In fact, these places would be only 
passing sidings were it not for the underground water supply. The 
artesian water was discovered by the railroad company in 1888 at 
Thermal and Coachella, and since then 400 or more wells have been 
sunk, mostly from 500 to 600. feet deep and yielding from 10 to 40 
miner’s inches (90 to 360 gallons a minute), the amount depending 
_ on the size of the well and varying with the locality. The water is 
_ contained in sand in the valley fill, and the head is derived from the 
= "ight of the intake on the sides and higher parts of the valley to the 
