west side you may look into the Grand Canyon of Saint Helena, 

 from which the river debouches onto a narrow sand-covered 

 plain supporting a forest of huge willows and cottonwoods. Both 

 natural and some artificial meadows of lush grass border this on 

 the north side. The south bank lies at the foot of a gigantic cliff. 

 That is Mexico. 



Most of the Big Bend area is extremely arid, the valleys and 

 the slopes being covered with cactus scrub and some of the 

 taller mountains being completely bald. The rocks sometimes 

 take grotesque shapes, and large arroyos have been carved out 

 of the uncompacted surface strata and the outwash soils. Despite 

 their towering heights, the Chisos and associated mountains are 

 formed of an ancient plateau that "fell" or sank some thousands 

 of feet into the earth between two faults. Later, the middle of 

 this block was upfolded by pressures from beneath; then vol- 

 canicity added its efforts, further elevating the surface and pour- 

 ing out massive strata of lava. Thus, today, the Chisos rise from 

 a hole in a plateau, but to a height that carries their peaks well 

 above its general level. 



The Cacomistle or Ring-tailed Cat, a small, soft-furred, 

 and agile type of raccoon found all over the West and 

 Southwest. It can squeeze into tiny crevices. 





The rocks of the old plateau were formed under a sea that 

 very long ago extended up the center of this continent from the 

 Gulf of Mexico to the Arctic Ocean and that later formed great 

 lagoons, coastal swamps, and lakes. Coal beds were laid down in 

 these and the fossil remains of dinosaurs are now to be found in 

 them. Above these are later strata of the Tertiary period, the age 

 of mammals, which contain certain long-extinct animals of great 

 interest, known as Hyracotheres. These were nondescript mam- 

 mals, the size of a large dog, with five toes in front and four 

 behind, all of which terminated in tiny hoofs. They were members 

 of the stock from which the horse tribe later arose. The earliest 

 known member of that tribe is a remarkably similar-looking 

 beast named Eohippus. or the Dawn Horse, found in Egypt and 

 North Africa in strata of similar age. 



The Chisos Mountains themselves are of extreme beauty. They 

 appear to rise almost straight up in towering red grandeur, and 

 as you go up into them you encounter unexpected growths of all 

 manner of trees. On their summits are pure stands of very fine 

 Alligator Junipers and large Mexican Pinon Pine. There are three 

 species of oak. Higher up still are Ponderosa Pine and even 

 Douglas Fir. In one small place there are great Arizona Cypress, 

 and in another even Quaking Aspen. 



No less than two hundred species of birds have been observed 

 here, among them both western and eastern species. The list is 

 outstanding for the number of species of birds, such as eight 

 hummingbirds, fifteen hawks, five doves, four jays, four juncos, 

 seven owls, twenty sparrows, six wrens, and seventeen warblers. 

 Outstanding species are the Colima Warbler and a hawk called 

 the Aplomado Falcon. Over fifty-five species of mammals have 

 been observed, and fifty-four reptiles, including twenty-two 

 lizards and twenty-eight snakes. The Chisos form an outlier of 

 the great mountain chain that includes the Rockies and the Sierra 

 Madre Oriental, and they are a stepping stone from the vegeta- 

 tion of one to the other. Plants grow and birds assemble on their 

 summits from both areas. They form, in fact, a northern exten- 

 sion of the eastern Sierras, as may be seen by the map. 



The whole Big Bend area, not just the Chisos Mountains, is a 

 mecca for botanists and zoologists, for even the apparently arid 

 plains and valleys that surround the mountains support a varied 

 fauna. In recesses far from human passings you may find the 

 Pronghorn Antelope, and after dark the Peccary seems to mate- 

 rialize in droves from nowhere. The beautiful and agile little Kit 

 Fox is plentiful, as it has food here in great abundance. Innumer- 

 able mice and other small rodents swarm, and the Antelope Jack 

 Rabbit is everywhere. 



LESSER DANGERS 



There are also in this province two small (two-inch) kinds of 

 scorpions technically named Centruroides that are really danger- 

 ous. These are slim and light-colored, and they run about rather 

 fast on the open ground at night with their pale, slender pincers 

 held before them at the ready. If they encounter anything that 

 moves or that their senses tell them is animal, they stick their 

 tails forward over their heads and then upward, jabbing a mi- 

 nute, hypodermic spine into the prey. This may well be your leg 

 or any other part of your anatomy if you have left it uncovered. 

 The results can be very serious. 



By official record, more deaths occur in Arizona from scorpion 

 stings than from all other animal stings or bites combined, 

 rattlesnakes not excluded. Not all scorpions are deadly. Of over 

 twenty species recorded from Arizona alone, and many others 

 from the southern reaches of this province, most of the larger 



