CALIFORNIA DESERT TRAILS 



CHAPTER I 



INTRODUCTORY 



The Desert a riddle — Its charm a contradiction — Attraction of 

 the unattractive — The desert fringe a contrast — Supremacy in 

 color — "Opal " the word — Sand as a reflector — Sunset — 

 Rock-color — Mountain contours — Bleached ranges — Color 

 on levels — Rock-mosaic — Austerity of the open desert — Color- 

 flood of spring — Sky-color — Morning and evening hues — 

 Battles in the skies — The "wistful" quality — London versus 

 the Colorado — Solitude our native air — The awe of silence — 

 The desert as antidote. 



THAT stony mystery the Sphinx, fixed in eter- 

 nal reverie amid the immemorial sands of 

 Egypt, might well stand as a symbol of the desert 

 itself; not that desert only, but deserts everywhere. 

 One point out of many that make up the analogy is 

 the baffling nature of the spell that people find in 

 the famous monument. One will say it is due to a 

 sense of its Immense age ; another, that the features 

 bear a supernatural expression, or hold some secret 

 meaning ; another feels its awe to lie in the riddle of 

 its purpose; and another, in some supposed signifi- 

 cance of its proportions. Similarly, the magic of the 

 desert is a riddle. Not only does it defy putting into 

 words, but I have never found the person who felt 

 that he could even shape it vaguely to himself in 

 thought. 



For one thing, it is in its essence a contradiction. 



