campbell.] GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE REGION. 9 
prominent in this region, but a second system trending- northwest and 
southeast unites with the former, giving to the country a peculiar 
crossbarred appearance. 
The most noted surface feature of the region is Death Valley, which 
lies 50 miles east of the Sierra Nevada and only a few miles west of 
the Nevada State line. This valley has a length of about 50 miles and 
an average width of from 5 to 10 miles; At the lowest point its floor 
is supposed to be about 480 feet below sea level, while on either side 
tower rugged mountains which reach nearly to the region of perpetual 
snow. Funeral Mountain, on the east, is supposed to have an altitude 
of from 5,000 to 7,000 feet, while Panamint Mountain, on the west, 
rises to an altitude of over 10,000 feet. Death Valley is not only the 
lowest point in the surface of the United States, but it is also regarded 
as the hottest place in the country. At the ranch maintained near the 
mouth of Furnace Creek b} r the Pacific Coast Borax Company the 
summer temperature is reported to reach 137° in the shade; but by 
means of a double roof and running water, habitation is rendered pos- 
sible even in this intense heat. 
Death Valley received its sinister name from the fact that in 1849 a 
band of emigrants wandered into the valley and most of them per- 
ished from thirst before an avenue of escape was discovered. Period- 
ically tales of the suffering and death of travelers who have attempted 
to cross the valley are revived and widely circulated, but these are 
generally exaggerated, and should be accepted with considerable 
allowance. 
Mohave Desert and the Death Valley region are desolate in the 
extreme, but wherever sufficient water can be obtained ranches have 
been established, and their brilliant green is a welcome sight to the 
traveler, weary of the interminable desert waste and the dark, for- 
bidding mountains. 
GEOLOGY ALONG ROUTE TRAVERSED. 
SAN BERNARDINO TO PAHRUMP VALLEY. 
After outfitting at San Bernardino the writer proceeded north 
across the range of mountains that separates the valley of southern 
California from Mohave Desert. The route lav up Cajon Canyon, mi 
the main road through the pass of the same name. 
Cajon Canyon. — This canyon cuts entirety across the range, follow- 
ing, in a general way, fault lines along which extensive movements 
have taken place in recent geologic time. The major fault extends in 
a northwest-southeast direction, cutting across the range at a very 
low angle. This fault apparently bounds the San Bernardino Moun- 
tains on the south in the vicinity of Arrowhead Springs. From tin- 
