﻿Harper: 
  A 
  week 
  in 
  eastern 
  Texas 
  295 
  

  

  I 
  

  

  ' 
  was 
  spent 
  in 
  the 
  vicinity 
  of 
  Austin, 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  time 
  outside 
  of 
  the 
  

   coastal 
  plain. 
  

  

  On 
  the 
  25th 
  I 
  went 
  from 
  Austin 
  to 
  Hempstead 
  and 
  Houston^ 
  

   by 
  the 
  Houston 
  & 
  Texas 
  Central 
  R. 
  R. 
  (Southern 
  Pacific). 
  On 
  

   the 
  26th 
  from 
  Houston 
  to 
  Columbia 
  by 
  the 
  I. 
  & 
  G. 
  N. 
  Ry., 
  56 
  miles, 
  

   then 
  on 
  foot 
  down 
  the 
  right 
  side 
  of 
  the 
  Brazos 
  River 
  eight 
  or 
  ten 
  

   miles, 
  to 
  Brazoria, 
  and 
  back 
  to 
  Houston 
  by 
  the 
  St. 
  Louis, 
  Browns- 
  

   ville 
  & 
  Mexico 
  Ry. 
  (Gulf 
  Coast 
  Lines), 
  which 
  uses 
  the 
  Santa 
  Fe 
  

  

  ■ 
  

  

  tracks 
  the 
  last 
  28 
  miles 
  or 
  so. 
  On 
  the 
  27th 
  from 
  Houston 
  to 
  the 
  

   Sabine 
  River 
  at 
  Logansport, 
  Louisiana, 
  by 
  the 
  Houston 
  East 
  & 
  

   West 
  Texas 
  Ry, 
  (Southern 
  Pacific), 
  and 
  on 
  northeastward 
  into 
  

  

  Louisiana. 
  

  

  Seven 
  or 
  eight 
  regions 
  were 
  studied 
  sufficiently 
  to 
  be 
  described 
  

   briefly 
  in 
  this 
  paper, 
  but 
  of 
  course 
  I 
  did 
  not 
  cross 
  their 
  boundaries 
  

   at 
  enough 
  points 
  to 
  warrant 
  any 
  attempt 
  to 
  revise 
  the 
  regional 
  

   maps 
  already 
  referred 
  to. 
  The 
  small 
  map 
  published 
  here 
  (Fig. 
  i) 
  

   will 
  help 
  the 
  reader 
  to 
  follow 
  the 
  regional 
  descriptions, 
  but 
  in 
  

   itself 
  can 
  not 
  be 
  regarded 
  as 
  contributing 
  anything 
  new 
  to 
  the 
  

   knowledge 
  of 
  Texas 
  geography. 
  Two 
  or 
  three 
  of 
  the 
  regions 
  

   crossed 
  will 
  require 
  further 
  study 
  before 
  they 
  can 
  be 
  described, 
  

   and 
  for 
  one 
  of 
  them 
  (which 
  may 
  be 
  divisible 
  into 
  two 
  or 
  more) 
  

   I 
  have 
  not 
  even 
  found 
  a 
  suitable 
  name.* 
  

  

  Observations 
  in 
  the 
  vicinity 
  of 
  Austin.— 
  Near 
  Austin, 
  the 
  only 
  

   place 
  where 
  I 
  crossed 
  the 
  boundary 
  of 
  the 
  coastal 
  plain 
  in 
  Texas, 
  

   there, 
  is 
  a 
  great 
  contrast 
  between 
  the 
  rocky 
  and 
  almost 
  unin- 
  

   habited 
  Edwards 
  Plateau 
  west 
  of 
  the 
  city 
  and 
  the 
  undulating 
  

   and 
  highly 
  cultivated 
  black 
  prairie 
  to 
  the 
  eastward. 
  On 
  the 
  

   limestone 
  hills 
  I 
  found 
  myself 
  in 
  dwarf 
  forests 
  or 
  thickets 
  as 
  strange 
  

   to 
  me 
  as 
  were 
  the 
  tropical 
  hammocks 
  south 
  of 
  Miami, 
  Florida, 
  

   when 
  I 
  first 
  encountered 
  them 
  in 
  the 
  spring 
  of 
  1909.1 
  This 
  vege- 
  

   tation 
  has 
  been 
  described 
  at 
  considerable 
  length 
  by 
  Professor 
  Bray 
  

   in 
  some 
  of 
  his 
  best-known 
  papers, 
  and 
  I 
  can 
  add 
  no 
  facts 
  of 
  impor- 
  

   tance 
  about 
  it. 
  No 
  doubt 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  characteristic 
  species 
  can 
  

  

  ,____^ 
  ^' 
  ^ 
  

  

  * 
  This 
  difficulty 
  is 
  much 
  like 
  that 
  of 
  a 
  taxonomist 
  who 
  monographs 
  a 
  genus 
  or 
  

   family 
  and 
  finds 
  a 
  few 
  specimens 
  that 
  cannot 
  be 
  referred 
  to 
  known 
  species 
  but 
  

   cannot 
  be 
  de'scribed 
  for 
  lack 
  of 
  information 
  about 
  some 
  of 
  their 
  essential 
  characters. 
  

  

  tin 
  this 
  connection 
  see 
  the 
  chapter 
  entitled 
  " 
  Bewilderment" 
  (pp. 
  96-103) 
  in 
  

   Bradford 
  Torrey's 
  book 
  "Nature's 
  Invitation" 
  (Boston, 
  1904). 
  which 
  describes 
  the 
  

   author's 
  first 
  experience 
  with 
  the 
  subtropical 
  flora 
  near 
  Miami. 
  

  

  