16 The Delta of the Rio Colorado. 
With the initiation of the Yuma project for irrigation of the areas 
contiguous to the river in and around the head of the delta, a move- 
ment has begun which will make the alluvial lands a home of many 
thousands. The work of converting the delta to the uses of civiliza- 
tion will be hindered by the fact that some of the main drainage chan- 
nels cross and then recross an international boundary ; but doubtless 
in a comparatively brief period the agricultural aspect of the entire 
area will approach that of the Nile, which has supported a teeming 
population for centuries. 
