THE OSPREY. 



23 



consisting of three horses, two mules, and one burro 



for saddle purposes, and two pack mules to carry 

 provision and camp utensils. The tirot 10 miles of 

 our course lay due north up the Kosario Valley, the 

 river bed becoming shortly little else than a dry 

 rax'ine, with here and there an adobe house. At the 

 end of perliaps lu miles we turnea to the east up a 

 lateral canon or arroyo to\>ard the mountain range, 

 at the foot of which, by the side of a diminutive 

 muddy spring, we camped. The dry stream here 

 enters a deep, steep- walled canyon, cut in granitic 

 diorite, which seems to form the main miss of the 

 hills. 



Next morning it was found that our animals, which 

 had been merely hobbled in onler that they might 

 browse on the mesquite, had striiyed so far that it 

 was nearly 11 o'clooi^ before we were once mure in 

 the saddle. Meantime the camera was brought into 

 requisition, some of the results being hnre repro- 

 duced in |>lates I and II. The giant cactus, Coves 

 prlnglei (plate I ) is about 25 feet in height by 20 inches 

 in diameter at the butt. Larger forms. So to 40 feet 

 in height, occur, but this was selected fjr phoio- 

 graphing on accountt of its accessibility, and its 

 being in fruit, as shown in the knob-like escresences 

 near the top. This fruit consists of a beautiful dark 

 carmine pulp, with black seeds, inclosed in an enve- 

 lop or riud ?.o beset with small needle-like thorns 

 that he who plucks it needs fingers of brass. The 

 appearance of this ])ulp in that dry hot region was 

 tempting, but the realization was disappointing, it 

 being almost tasteless, and even failing to quem-h 

 the thirst. Theseawkard forms, resemblingclu'tered 

 mill-logs standing on end, were abundant, though 

 widely scattered. Some were straight and limbless 

 as saw logs; others gave elf three or four or more 

 clumsy branches a few few feet from the ground, as 

 shown in the illustration. 



Another striking plant seen here for (he first time 

 is Foiiijuitra coliiumaris, shown in plate II, and which 

 becomes more abundant on the inland plateau. Al- 

 though some JO feet in height and lo to 18 inches in 

 diameter at the base, these strange forms were read- 

 ily cut down with the back of my geological ham- 

 mer, and showed in cross section a structure not 

 greatly unlike that of our ordinary Eastern sun- 

 llower, in that they have a thin exterior or rind of a 

 greenish white color and an interior core of white 

 pith-like material. The numerous branches, about 

 the size of an ordiiinary lead pencil, pass directly 

 through the liard, woody rind into the pith. When 

 the plant dies, the limbs fall out, the pith shrinks 

 and decays, leaving the trunks in the form of col- 

 lapsed cylinders full of spiral perforations. The 

 numerous branches project uniformly in every direc- 

 tion, sometimes to a distance of two feet or more. 

 They are stiff, harsh ami thorny, and it was fountl 

 possible to gain access to the trunk without tearing 

 the flesh only by turning up one's coat collar, put- 

 ting on gloves, bowing the head, and backing in. 

 Even then the work of cutting the bark is disa- 

 greeable, though the bark or rind is itself thin and 

 tender. 



A landscape of these pole-like forms is weird in 

 the estreme, and particularly about dusk. Dry, 

 hot, leafless, noiseless, and apparenth' lifeless, it 

 conveys vividly to ithe imagination the idea of a 

 burnt-out world. (See plate III.) 



As we ascended the mountains and passed Ihe 

 crest to the plateau on the east, the country became 

 still more forbidding; The scanty soil and scatter- 

 ing growth of desert plants fail to cover the rocks, 

 wliich stand out bare and hot, weathered to a dull 



reddish color. There was absolutely nothing that 

 could cast a shade or boast a thornless leaf. Yet 

 there were beautiful and interesting things, if one 

 could but stop under that scorching sun to admire. 

 A barrel-shaped cactus, from 6 inches to 4 feet in 

 height, with long sharply recurved thorns, shows 

 delicate green and pink tints, and often has a circle 

 of beautiful deep scarlet flowers on top. The agave 

 begins to appear; an insignificant cluster of leaves 

 growing on vertical cliUs takes the form of a rof-e, 

 and is coated with a flower-like bloom. The tints 

 are delicate greenish white, sometimes pinkish, and 

 when one can rid himself of the idea that the whole 

 country is accursed, he finds it beautiful in the ex- 

 treme. 



We camped that night on the banks of a stream 

 no longer running, but yielding in standing pools 

 sufficient water for our needs, passing on the way 

 the only habitation seen between Kl Rosario and 

 San Juan de Dios. Me.squite grew abundantly 

 along the dry bottoms, and there was a plentiful sup- 

 ply of quail, but no other forms of animal life were 

 seen. From this point to San Jjan de Dios the 

 most striking features of the landscape are the 

 rounded, boss-like forms of the hills, due to the 

 weathering of the granular, massive diabases and 

 diorities of which they are composed. During the 

 day we passed over the landscape shown in plate III 

 and crossed a low divide, where the well known 

 "lost mountain" type of structure, became first evi- 

 dent. The ground was covered with angular and 

 sharply-rounded pebbles of eruptive rocks, inter- 

 spersed with thin crusts of lime carbonate, indica- 

 tive of lake bed deposits. At San Juan de Dios, a 

 little stream makes up out of the rocks in a canyon, 

 flows a short distance, and sinks in the sand. Yet 

 'tis enough for human needs, and here in his adobe 

 hut, thatched with palm leaves, lives a Mexican, rais- 

 ing cattle and chikiren. We are given a hearty wel- 

 come and fed bountifully on stewed quail, beans, skim 

 milk cheese, wild honey, and the leathery tortilla, 

 made from corn crushed on the aboriginal metate. 

 The landscape here, except in the creek bottoms, 

 retains its desert aspect. 'The flora is composed of 

 various species of cactus, among which the log-like 

 eereus already mentioneil is conspicuous. The fou- 

 quiera and agave also abound. 



The following morning (July 24 ) a round-up was 

 held, and some new animals secured, those obtained 

 at El Rosario being already footsore. As the dis- 

 tance to the next water was estimated at thirty-five 

 to forty miles — too far for one day, over rough trails 

 and with unshod animals — it was decided to delay 

 until about noon, make a dry camp at night and 

 finish the trip next day. 



The first few miles lay upward through narrow 

 canyons with precipitous walls and loose rocky bot- 

 toms. Emerging from the canyon, or arroyo, we 

 found ourselves on a high level plateau, which ex- 

 tends for miles in a northerly and westerly direction. 

 Agaee shavi, with central stalk ten to fifteen feet in 

 height, stands here by tens of thousands in full 

 bloom, in the midst of rocks so hot and forbidding 

 that I drive by with scarcely a look. These agaves 

 continue abundant well over toward the east coaat, 

 and are often beautifully symmetrical. I'or years 

 they gather from the stingv soil the necessary nutri- 

 ment for the flower stalk, storing it up in their thick 

 fleshy bayonet-like leaves. When the season ar- 

 rives, they shoot up in a surprisingly short time a 

 tingle stalk, sometimes ten feet in height and four 

 inches in diameter at the base, bearing at the top a 

 raceme of honey-yellow, trumpet-shaped flowers. 



