IMPERIAL VALLEY TO YUMA 311 



camps than those of Imperial Valley. Many of these 

 had little orchards, a thing one hardly ever sees in 

 the Imperial; and nurseries of date seedlings were a 

 common feature. 



Now and then a wagon passed us filled with 

 Indians bound for town. There was no mistaking 

 those tulip-like costumes at any distance. I caught 

 glimpses of such chic arrangements as magenta with 

 orange, and bottle-green with mauve. The Quakers 

 will never stand a chance with these people. One 

 rather pretty girl in flame-color and pea-green made 

 a fine display of gold-filled incisors as she went by, I 

 fancy for my benefit. The contrast of bare, dirty 

 feet with this show of wealth struck me as unique, 

 perhaps also symbolic. It is a far advance in taste 

 that is shown by the Mexican woman, with her 

 dark, plain colors and modest rebosa, or the Mexican 

 girl's choice of pure and simple white. The Yuma 

 men's favorite head-covering is a handkerchief of 

 some bright color, twisted into a close-fitting tur- 

 ban; but often, and more pleasing, one sees the 

 banda, a strip passing round the forehead and fas- 

 tened above the long ropes of hair. 



The dustiness of the road was mitigated by a 

 green bordering of willows and alfalfa, highly ap- 

 proved by Kaweah. Everywhere were canals, large 

 and small, the cement head-gates bearing the letters 

 U. S. R. S. (United States Reclamation Service) 

 which are coming to mean so much to many regions 

 of the West. A dredge was lazily nosing with a 

 ecoop-shovel into the bank of damp red earth, en- 

 larging one of the smaller canals. On all sides were 



