YUMA TO BLYTHE 317 



solid masses of purple or aerial tones of blue. Ahead 

 rose the Picacho pinnacle, like a dark pillar of thun- 

 der-cloud. It would be strange if the mines on the 

 north flank of the mountain had escaped discovery. 

 Any prospector or explorer coming within sight of 

 that curious peak would be bound to go and see 

 what it meant. I saw here an unusually good mirage, 

 a sheet of pale blue water with slender towers like 

 the minarets of mosques artistically grouped be- 

 yond. I used to wonder whether Kaweah saw these 

 illusions. I cannot see why a horse should not, his 

 eyes being at much the same level as a man's, but he 

 never gave any token of noticing them. Are animals 

 quicker than we to detect the unreahty? 



He had drunk little at starting and refused water 

 at the ditch, but by early afternoon he was jaded. I 

 searched each gully in hope of finding water left by 

 the storm of a few days before, and by good luck 

 came upon a tinaja of clear water. By lying down I 

 could just make the canvas bucket reach it by using 

 the forty-foot picket-rope. It was delicious water, 

 cool and sweet, and we resolved on lunch. A chuck- 

 walla that lived in a cranny of the gully amused me 

 with reptilian antics while I ate. No doubt he 

 thought my actions equally uncouth. 



The country became rougher, with antediluvian 

 looking hills coming in at every fresh view. Ocotillos 

 were almost the only growth, and these, as brilliant 

 as if dipped in vivid paint, made a striking show 

 against the crude red of the rock. By late afternoon 

 we rounded the flank of the Picacho, reaching the 

 divide just before sunset. I shall never forget the 



