BLYTHE TO COACHELLA VALLEY 343 



ally being burned black by the sun. On breaking 

 some of the pieces the inside color was always light 

 red. These stretches are one of the peculiar features 

 of desert geology, by reason of the uniformity of the 

 fragments in size and color, and the impression they 

 give of having been rolled into place. Their polish 

 also suggests friction under enormous weight, as if 

 red clay had been vitrified to a kind of flint by heat 

 due to compression. 



Long before the Ironwoods were left behind, the 

 sun had warmed to his work and taken his old place 

 in my regard. Next the Palen Range slowly came 

 into view. The travelling became bad, then worse, 

 finally heartbreaking. Each wash outdid the last in 

 muscle-demand, and Kaweah parted early with his 

 morning gaiety. A few miles of this sort of thing has 

 greater effectiveness in reducing mental excitement 

 than any medical sedative I know. At last the Cocks- 

 combs opened up in the northwest, their serrated 

 crags remarkable as ever though robbed of their 

 realistic red by the haze of heat and distance. Our 

 objective, the Chuckwallas, flickered in long forbid- 

 ding rank on the southern horizon, seemingly unap- 

 proachable. Hours of laborious travel wrought no 

 visible change in their obstinate contours. 



Half an hour was all I could allow at noon for rest 

 and lunch. The trees had long been passed, and 

 without a square foot of shade there was no induce- 

 ment to lose time. I found languid interest in watch- 

 ing the play of light on distant ranges, and in won- 

 dering what legend might have been framed by the 

 old Greeks that could give glamour to this profound 



