June, 1903. A List of Mammals — Elliot. 203 



the mountains at an average elevation of about 3,000 feet." A short stop 

 was made at San Jose on the way and a few specimens taken. A stay of 

 six days was made at San Antonio, which " lies at the west base of the 

 range at about 3,000 feet elevation. It is situated on a rushing moun- 

 tain stream, in a narrow, high-walled valley. The vegetation along the 

 stream is Transitional in character, consisting of live-oaks, sycamores, 

 willows, cottonwoods, etc. The sides of the canon are Sonoran, the 

 vegetation being chiefly cacti, yuccas, and mesquites. The giant cereus is 

 of rather rare occurrence, and this is apparently its northern limit on the 

 Pacific slope of the peninsula." Rosarito was the next camping-place, 

 where three days were passed. This spot is " about forty miles south 

 of San Antonio and about the same distance due east of San Quentin, 

 situated in a shallow valley near the southwest edge of the San Pedro 

 Martir Mountains, at about 3,500 feet altitude. A small stream rises in 

 the valley and flows down a narrow canon to the Pacific. The vegeta- 

 tion is mostly Sonoran, various species of cacti, chiefly Opuntia and 

 Cereus, forming the greatest part of the flora, and mesquite, creosote, yuccas, 

 and mescal the tallest growth. A few desert palms are widely scattered in 

 the canon bed, which have entered the valley from the east and here 

 reach their northern limit on the coast." From Rosarito a short trip 

 was made across the lower part of the range to Mattoni, on the edge of 

 the desert, the haunts of the mountain sheep, where two weeks were 

 passed mostly in hunting the rare O. c. nelsoni, or an animal similar 

 to it. Mattoni is "about forty miles south of Rosarito, and is a wide 

 level valley, walled in by gigantic cliffs, 1,500 to 2,000 feet high, which 

 terminate the broad mesas of the higher country. A shallow canon, 

 containing pools of water and a heavy growth of palms, extends east 

 through the valley towards the Gulf of California. This region is mostly 

 a lava and granite formation, and is a favorite resort of mountain sheep. 

 Giant cereus cacti, mesquite, creosote, and mescal constitute the greater 

 part of the vegetation. About the summits of the cliffs and mesas a few 

 pihon, pines, Pinus parryana, occur." This valley is from 1,500 to 2,000 feet 

 above sea level. North of Mattoni ten days were next passed at Parral, 

 a small valley of a similar formation, and the next camp was made at 

 Rosarito Divide, where he remained two days. This spot was "about 

 twenty miles east of Rosarito, near the main ridge of the mountains, 

 dividing the coast from the Gulf of California at an altitude of about 

 5,000 feet. The camp was placed on the west slope in a canon which 

 drains the Rosarito Valley. The vegetation is a mixture of Transition 

 and Sonoran. Here the pinon and the desert palm, the scrub-oaks and 

 the mescal, the ash and the yucca, mingle." Mr. Heller now went to San 

 Quentin on the coast. Of this place he writes : " The region about here 



