160 A Visit to Lake Maquata. 



plains are otherwise almost destitute of vegetation. A little patch 

 of salt grass (I)istichlis maritima) grew in the vicinity of one of the 

 mesquie trees, and here my former acquaintance with the region 

 stood me in good stead, for I knew that comparatively good water 

 could be obtained in this vicinity. Cleaning out a small hole near 

 the tree, by the moonlight (we had reached the place just at dusk), I 

 had the pleasure the following morning of finding a limited supply 

 of water, sufficient for our needs. It was very suspiciously sweet at 

 first (alkali water is sweet to the taste) and we had to use it sparingly, 

 but after a while it became sufficiently pure for us to drink with 

 impunity, after we had dipped it dry a dozen times or more. 



The first night our horses were without hay, and had only a feed 

 of grain. Of necessity we hitched them to one of the mesquites, 

 and by morning we found they had gnawed off all the bark on the 

 trunk of the tree that they could conveniently reach, and eaten the 

 twigs and leaves that were in reach also. The day after our arrival 

 we traveled to the southward over th^ desert for two or three miles 

 and cut a supply of hay with our p.diSl The only true grass in this 

 arid region of agricultural value is a very rigid species, that grows 

 in scattering clumps, one to three or four feet high, and generally 

 called gietta (Hilaria rigida). This grass is very nutritious, rich in 

 the starch elements, and very brittle. It is not specially attractive 

 at first to horses or cattle, but they soon learn to Cat it with avidity,, 

 and a single cluster is often sufficient for an animal for a night. A 

 stout grubbing hoe is the best implement for the haymaker when 

 harvesting gietta, but a pick is almost equally useful, or in the absence 

 of either it can be easily broken off with the foot — but the foot needs 

 to be well protected by a heavy boot in the latter case ! 



Leaving Coyote wells early the following morning, after we had 

 completed our haying, we travelled to the southward over a but little 

 travelled natural road, sandy and gravelly or stony in places, toward 

 Signal mountain — the northern end of the Cocopah range. We 

 came in sight of the Maquata basin early in the afternoon, the 

 lake being some thirty miles from Coyote wells, and became con- 

 vinced that reports of water in the lake were true, a long and nar- 

 row strip of water being plainly visible along the western base of 

 the Cocopah range and glistening in the sunlight. Evidently only a 

 portion of the lake bed, however, was thus covered with water, but as 

 we approached the shores of the lake our anticipations rose higher 

 and higher. 



As we approached the shores of the lagoon we traversed broad 

 sandy arroyos in which numerous ironwood trees (Olneya Tesota) 

 were growing. Nearer the lake were a few shrubby clusters of mes- 

 quite, but only occasionally was a bean pod visible. Arrow weed 

 TPluchea Corealis) and mock willow, and a few other plants usually 

 considered good indications of fresh water, were soon observed. 

 These plants grew in considerable luxuriance, and fresh water may 



