TO THOUSAND PALM CANON 107 



account, for there was no prospect of forage or 

 water for him except by our striking the one right 

 place in this maze of possibiHties. The heat was 

 severe, though short of yesterday's intolerable de- 

 gree. It was about noon when I saw a dark spot miles 

 ahead, which I guessed to signify my palms. By two 

 o'clock we were there and found that the palms 

 grew at the head of a long caiion that should open 

 on desert level. It was Thousand Palm Canon, the 

 place I wanted. 



From under the palms a feeble stream trickled 

 away, its margin white with alkali; but water is 

 water, and an absolute requisite. There were scraps 

 of fair pasturage, too, making it, for the desert, a 

 desirable camp. It was good to see Kaweah go to 

 work at the juicy tules and water-grass, and it 

 stimulated my own appetite, jaded by hours of heat. 

 I brewed some flat, spiritless tea, made a scratch 

 meal, and then lay in palmy shade watching Ka- 

 weah's ribs fill out and enjoying a kind of Lotos- 

 Eater's ease. The temperature was just at century 

 point by my little thermometer, and the whole place 

 was kept on echo with drowsy coo of doves and cau- 

 tious whistle of quail. Smaller birds formed little 

 bathing parties of sixes and sevens, turning on the 

 shower-baths with what seemed criminal extrava- 

 gance. 



At sunset I wandered half a mile down the cafion. 

 The drab mountains changed suddenly to rose, then 

 crimson, then furnace-red. It is fortunate that these 

 transformations come at the hour when one's spirits 

 are rising in prospect of the coolness of the approach- 



