si sli an cnn se Re Naas camo
cai,

AND PACIFIC COAST GUIDE

6.2 miles t) BANNING, a signal station, and
5.7 miles more brings us to

Cabazon (pronounced Cabb-a-zone),
which means “ Big Head,” named for a
tribe of Indians who live in this country;
elevation, 1,779 feet. We are now in the
Coahulian Valley. To the right are the San
Jacinto Mountains, covered with timber.
From Cabazon it is 8.5 miles to WHITE
WATER, an unimportant signal station,
1,126 feet altitude, where we enter the
cactus and desert country, and from which
station it is 7.5 miles to

Seven Palms—elevation 584 feet.
This station was named for seven large
palm trees, situated about one mile north
ofthe station. They are from 40 to 60 feet
in height, with very large, spreading tops.
The water at this station is the first and
best on the west side of the desert, and in
the days when emigrants traveled this
route with teams, it was one of the points
looked forward to with much pleasure.

From this station to DosPalmas, a little
over 50 miles, the palm trees are abundant,
otherwise the route for the next 18 miles is
a“ howling wilderness.”

Endio—is 20.8 miles from Seven Palms,
with a depression of just twenty feet below
sea level. The palm trees along here are
many of them 70 feet in height. When we
commenced to descend below the sea level,
three miles before reaching Indio, we left
the sand-belt and entered a region more
adapted for agricultural purposes, strange
as it may seem. The cactus grows luxu-
riantly, and the mesquite shrub and palms
cover the face of the land. From this
point we descend lower and lower at every
revolution of the wheels, down, down under
the sea. Methinks we can see the huge
ships sailing over our heads, and many of
the leviathans of the deep, with an eye cast
wistfully down upon us; then we think of
Jonah, and wonder if we will come out as
he did; then, along comes the freebooter,
Mr. Shark, and appears to be taking our
measure with a knowing wink of his left
fin—he rises to the surfaceas though to get
a fresh breath and a better start for a grand
dive, looking as hungry as a New York
landlord, as enterprising as a Chicago
drummer and as ‘cheeky’ as some of the
literary thieves who pirate information
from our book, without giving credit.

In some points of the depression, where
we first enter it, three miles north of Indio,
fresh water can be obtained by sinking
from twelve to sixteen feet. Here, vegeta-

253

 

tion is,very luxuriant; mesquite, iron-wood,
arrow-wood, grease-wood, sage and other
woods and shrubs abound. Further to the
south, from Waltersto Flowing Wells, a
distance of over 40 miles, the country is
completely barren. Through this section,
the water obtained by digging is very salt.

The beach surrounding this depression
is 40 feet above high water; the lines are
the same noticeable around any salt beach,
the pebbles laying in rows, away around
the different water-lines, as though left but
yesterday by the receding waters. Marine
and fresh water shells are numerous, indi-
cating a fresh water lake here, subsequent
to its being a part of the ocean.

Walters—is 13.3 miles from Indio,
where passenger trains meet and pass. At
this point we are 135 feet below the level of
the sea, and still going dvwn. Ten miles
further and we are 266 feet below ; gradually
we ascend, and at the next station, 17.4
miles from Walters, are at

Dos Palmas—only 253 feet below.
A “buck-board stage’ leaves here every
alternate day, on the arrival of trains, car-
rying passengers, mails and express, for

herenburg, 108 miles; Eherenburg to
Wickenburg, 128 miles; Wickenburg to
Prescott, 65 miles; fare averages 16 cents
per mile.

From Dos Palmas, desolation reigns
supreme, and 10.9 miles brings us to

Fink’s Sprimgs——Here we are
seven feet lower than at Dos Palmas, being
260 feet below; alittle further it will be 262
feet when we commence to rise.

Five miles south, is twenty-five square
miles of mud springs. The first is about
100 yards east cf the road, and is cold.
Then tothe right, from one to six miles, are
many springs, both hot and cold. Some
are 200 feet in diameter, boiling up as
though in a huge caldron, just on a level
with the ground. Others are smaller, cone-
shaped, rising in some cases 25 feet from
the ground, a kind of miniature volcanoes.
The mud in these springs is much the same
consistency as ordinary mush, bubbling up
as in a pot, over a slow fire. The smell,
coupled with an occasional rumbling sound,
reminds one of a region of which our
modern teachers deny the existence.

The railroad track does not cross this
depression in the lowest place, as an area

 

a ce ERASE PRE DAP EATON nS AEP PR SELES RELL I ELITE EI TPO ALANS E EE SE AN NT PEST RE Tat ECE NAEOERIC EN ee EEE CO CT
meen te eeh EY RE ESS ESE «eo RIED a BER REO aR AES oe aire

west from Dos Palmas is twelve and a half

feet lower. This has been called a Vol-
canic country. There are no signs that
would indicate it ever to have been dis-