FOREWORD 



THE LATE Charles Dudley Warner used to 

 apply to Southern California the term "Our 

 Italy." The territory described in the follow- 

 ing pages may certainly be better designated Our 

 Araby; and just as Italy attracts many travellers 

 while Arabia appeals to few, so of the multitude of 

 Californians and California tourists, not many, 

 relatively, are likely to wish to visit the desert: and 

 this is fortunate, for if too much peopled its charm 

 would be lost. 



This little book is designed to serve three ends: 

 to invite people of the right kind — not too many — 

 to a region that is meant for the discerning few; to 

 help them while here to enjoy it to the full; and to 

 please them, when they have departed, with recol- 

 lections of things thought and felt, seen and done, 

 in a tract of country wholly out of the ordinary. 



It is hoped that the United States Geological 

 Survey map, supplied in the back of the book, will 

 be found a useful adjunct. Being the only official 

 map yet issued which is complete of the locality 

 dealt with, it meets a definite need. The writer has 

 pleasure in acknowledging the courtesy of the 

 Survey in granting permission to reproduce it, and 

 also to reprint from one of their valuable publica- 

 tions the Hints to Motorists which will be found in 

 the Appendix. He is under obligations also to 



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