THE COLORADO DESERT 



343 



waters Ureak awa}' in both directions. The main current flows south- 

 ward, and is called Hard3''s Colorado, or the Hard}' River. But 

 when the overflow is at its height and the region about the lake 

 has become a vast area of inundation, a splendid stream bursts away 

 down the northern slope backward into the interior, 'iliis is the New 

 River. Its main channel is accompanied bj^ many sloughs, and wide 

 areas for miles on each side of the current are subnierged. Shortly 

 after crossing the boundary line, tlie New River flows tlirouiih a de- 



I.AND ltKi;K.NTI,V IMMiATKU AI.UM; IIAXKS 01 IIIK 11 A l!I)V — Til K. (iMDrAll MUINTAIN.S IX llAIMiKHLS U 



From a pliotnijirij)!! Iiy tin author 



pression about half a mile long and 20 feet deep, known as Cameron 

 Lake, and from here along its winding course nortiiward are many 

 lagoons and water-holes, for the most part jjooIs of a few acres of 

 extent, lying off the main channel and connected with the New River 

 by short slouglis. They are surrounded by a growth of mescpiite, 

 and water in all of them lasts for many nionths after the New River 

 overflow has ceased. Cameron Lake is one of the largest and deepest, 

 and its waters liave usually " held over " from owe overflow to the 

 next, the small, dirty, and reeking pool into wliidi it sulisides late in 



