XIV CONTENTS 



surface-streams — Oases in the waste — Catch-basinsi — 

 Old sea-beds — Volcanic action — LaVa-flowe — Geological' 

 ages — Kinds of rock — Glaciers — Land slips — Morement 

 of stones — The talus — Stages of the talus— Desert floors 

 — Sandstone blocks — Salt-beds — Sand-beds — Mountain 

 vegetation — Withered grasses — Barren rock — Mountain 

 colors — Saw-toothed ridges — Seen from the peaks — The 

 Sun-fire kingdom 23 



Chapter III. The Bottom of the Bowl. — Early geo- 

 logical days — The former Gulf — Sea-beaches on desert — 

 Harbors and reefs — Indian remains — The Cocopas — The 

 Colorado Kiver — The delta dam — The inland lake — The 

 first fall — Springs and wells in the sea-bed — The New 

 River — New beaches — The second fall — The third beach 

 — The failing water — Evaporation — Bottom of the Bowl 

 — Drying out of the sea-bed — Advance of the desert — Be- 

 low sea-level — Desolation of the basin — Beauty of the 

 sand-dunes — Cactus and salt-bush — Desert animals — 

 Birds — Lizards and snakes — Mirage — The water illusion 

 — Decorative landscapes — Sensuous qualities in Nature 

 — Changing the desert — Irrigation in the basin — Changing 

 the climate — Dry air — Value of the air supply — Value of 

 the desert — Destruction of natural beauty — Effects of 

 mining, lumbering, agriculture — Ploughing the prairies — 

 "Practical men" — Fighting wind, sand, and heat — Na- 

 ture eternal — Return of desolation 44 



Chapter IV. The Silent River. — Rise of the Colora- 

 do — In the canyon — On the desert — The lower river — 

 Sluggish movement — Stillness of the river^The river's 

 name — Its red color — Compared with the Nile — The 

 blood hue — River changes — Red sands and silt — River- 

 banks — "Bottom" lands — Green bordering bands — 

 Bushes and flowers — Soundless water — Wild fowl — Her- 



