i8 CALIFORNIA DESERT TRAILS 



five hundred feet to two thousand feet of altitude, 

 and there was neither mood nor leisure for scenery 

 until we reached the little clump of palms that 

 marked our destination. 



But when camp was pitched and serenity re- 

 turned I found a high coign among the rocks and 

 took my satisfaction. I was at about the limit of 

 growth of the water-loving trees that accompanied 

 the creek as far as they dared — sycamores, alders, 

 cottonwoods, and willows. Here they stopped short 

 abruptly, and from here desertward only the starve- 

 ling vegetation of drought held the ground. The 

 pale shrubs seemed to have copied the look of the 

 gray boulders, as if hoping by subterfuge to escape 

 the notice of the sun. Each bush of encelia or burro- 

 weed grew rounded and compact, and in twilight 

 or moonlight would not be distinguished from the 

 rocks, except where they grew among the rust- 

 brown slabs of the cailon walls, when one would 

 swear he saw^ a flock of grazing sheep, every one 

 distinct to the eye. 



Straight in front the canon opened in steep, 

 smooth descent, bounded by high and barren walls, 

 the western already dark in shadow, the other in full 

 sun and glowing with volcanic intensity of red. At 

 three miles' distance these ran out into the level 

 like capes extending far to sea — a sea of lifeless 

 gray that broke southward in one huge crest of sand 

 that was like a tidal wave stopped and held in full 

 career. In sharp relief against the neutral hue of the 

 sand stood the dark, gleaming fans of palms. The 

 distance was closed by a level rampart of moun- 



