8o CALIFORNIA DESERT TRAILS 



being the furnishing of an intoxicating drink little 

 less atrocious than the mescal from across the line. 

 According to Mr. Lumholtz, the Papagos date their 

 year from the commencement of the saguaro har- 

 viest, which occurs about the middle of our year. 



In many desert canons the so-called wild apricot, 

 Prunus eriogyna, is plentiful and bears good crops of 

 small sweet berries. Prime luxury of all, however, is 

 a-moosh' (a Dieguefio word), which is secured by 

 baking the heart of the agave, as I have described in 

 another chapter. But these natural dainties are 

 coming to be little prized now that sweets of greater 

 charm, because americano, are offered in paper bags 

 or lace-frilled boxes at the store. 



On the Reservation at Palm Springs there are a 

 number of magnificent fig trees, descendants of the 

 old historic figs of San Gabriel Mission. One that I 

 measured showed a circumference of over nine feet. 

 These furnish an abundance of delicious fruit, the 

 surplus of which the Indians are not slow at turning 

 into money, finding a demand for it in Los Angeles, 

 where it brings high prices, as it comes early into 

 market. Old Marcos is the proud owner also of a 

 few fine date-palms, real Deglet Nur aristocrats im- 

 ported many years ago from Algeria and planted 

 here by the Department of Agriculture to test their 

 adaptability to our climate. No wonder if the tunas 

 from his great cactus hedge, full twelve feet high, are 

 less prized than of old. 



The Indian who panted for cooling drinks "when 

 heated in the chase" was not condemned to water 

 alone. A handful of crushed beans of the mesquit, or 



