90 CALIFORNIA DESERT TRAILS 



from milky white, through pale chrome, gold, ochre, 

 rose, madder, royal purple, indigo, and duskier 

 purple, to almost black: such enchantment does this 

 desert atmosphere work, even at no distant range. 

 As I now passed near it the magic was as totally 

 gone as that of Hamlet's dull firmament; it was "a 

 foul and pestilent congregation " of sand atoms, 

 weary to foot, weary to eye, most of all weary to 

 thought, the embodiment of drought, hopelessness, 

 infinity of number, infinitude of Time. 



This strip of desert, lying at the eastern approach 

 to the San Gorgonio Pass, is a veritable blow-pipe 

 and sand-blast. The heated air rising under this 

 fierce sun acts as a suction-pump, drawing from the 

 coast a compensating volume, and this pass forms 

 the main channel for the daily interchange of sea 

 and land air that gives the Southern California cli- 

 mate its peculiar quality. It is by means of this regu- 

 lar wind-current that the great sand-hill has come 

 into being. On most days, especially of spring and 

 summer, to cross this tract is a highly unpleasant 

 job. The force of the wind is phenomenal, and the 

 steady, concentrated action results in launching 

 volumes of sand with hurricane power against any 

 object in its path. 



As an instance of the violence of this wind, I re- 

 call an average day of a former spring, when a party 

 of whom I was one stopped hereabouts for a meal. 

 A sheltered spot was chosen and a canvas sheet 

 rigged against the wagon-wheels for extra protection : 

 yet a cup of cofTee set on the ground would be in- 

 stantly blown over unless weighted down with a 



