ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 
25 
PALM CANYON 
An oasis in (lie desert located at the sterile base of the Sail Jacinto Mountain. There is a stately proces¬ 
sion of these wonderful palms. Various animals visit this canyon to drink from its tepid waters 
thermometer registered 120 degrees on the side 
of the car away from the sun, but we carried 
overcoats as night on the desert demands warm 
clothes or, in their absence, a dangerous chill¬ 
ing. Occasional cars were passing through, 
some being transcontinental tourists preferring 
the southern route and others coming from oasis 
settlements farther on. We stopped at shattered 
buttresses to look for chuekawallas, a brown 
lizard as large as a young alligator. Our efforts 
were fruitful and we noted their habit of re¬ 
treating into deep fissures where they squeezed 
and flattened into the furthermost recesses. But 
what a spot for an animate form to dwell and 
thrive! The rocks were so hot that to touch 
them was painful; the air was of such high 
temperature that a full breath seemed to burn 
the lungs. At first sight there seemed to be 
absolutely no life among these lava blocks, 
dusted here and there witli the drifting sand. 
Closer examination disclosed feeble plants, grow¬ 
ing in the shelter of the crevices. Here was the 
sustenance of these lizards, and in the spring 
a feast of desert buds and flowers. 
Leaving the forbidding buttresses, we con¬ 
tinued straight out into the desert, like a ship 
leaving port for the open sea. After a half 
hour’s running, we left the cement road and 
swung to the right upon a fairly hard sand trail 
again leading towards the dwindling slopes of 
San Jacinto. Approaching the tangled rocks, a 
profusion of cacti of various kinds sprang into 
view and we bumped through a wide, low canyon 
called “The Garden of Eden.” Here the desert 
flora is weird and of great interest. Generously 
distributed among the rocks were the burly 
stumps of barrel cacti, some of them weighing 
several hundred pounds. They are fluted like 
an accordion and with the brief spring rains 
TESSELLATED LIZARD 
A typical desert form 
