66 



interesting Nemacaulis nuttalii, and the showy sand verbena 

 (Abronia), were particularly worthy of notice. 



About ten miles or so south of San Quintin bay we came to 

 a most peculiar and strange ' ' mountain ' ' of sand — a hill a mile 

 in width and some eight miles long, composed entirely of white 

 drifting sand, at the highest part probably three hundred feet 

 above the beach. How such a giant sand dune came to be 

 formed at this spot is difficult to conceive. The surface was 

 broken up into hillocks and peaks, sometimes surprisingly acute 

 in outline, with steep walls of sand to windward. The surface, 

 except at the edges, was devoid of every vestige of vegetation. 

 A few grasses, identical with some collected on the Colorado 

 desert, grew in the loose sand at the base of the mountain. 

 While the surface of this mountain is constantly undergoing 

 change in outline, yet the mountain itself does not change its 

 position materially — at least, has not noticeably done so in the 

 memory of the scattering settlers of the surrounding region of 

 San Quintin bay. 



Not far beyond this mountain of sand another canyon 

 emptied into the sea, forming a small lagoon at the foot of the 

 broken mesa lands. Here the Rosario road left the beach and 

 followed over the rough mesas, with constant interruptions of 

 deep ravines. 



In the canyon near the lagoon a few depauperate sycamore 

 trees obtained a precarious living, and a few stunted plants of 

 Washingtonia filifera (the California fan palm) again reminded 

 me even more strongly of desert regions — though, in fact, there 

 was scarce anything to suggest other than the aridity of the 

 country. 



Coming suddenly upon a few heads of the semi-parasitic 

 Pholisma, I was unpleasantly startled at its resemblance to a 

 rattlesnake. By the way, scarcely a day passed in this entire 

 region without the destruction of several of these poisonous 

 reptiles. 



This was the last water and feed before reaching Rosario 

 mission, sixty miles away, and we consequently camped there 

 over night. The coyotes made merry music for us, and but for 

 a faithful watchdog we would have watched out the night to 

 prevent the coyotes cutting our horses loose and scaring them 

 off — as they had done several times before. 





