78 MOUNTAINS AND GROWTHS, 
the appearance of a glittering white cloud. 
There is another still more picturesque ridge 
further south, called Los Organos, consisting 
of an immense cliff of basaltic pillars, which 
bear some resemblance to the pipes of an 
organ, whence the mountain derived its name. 
Both these sierras are famous as being the 
strongholds of the much-dreaded Apaches. 
The mountains from El Paso northward 
are mostly clothed with pine, cedar, and a 
dwarfish species of oak. The valleys are 
timbered with cottonwood, and occasionally 
with mezquite, which, however, is rarely found 
higher up than the lower settlements of New 
Mexico. In the immediate vicinity of El 
Paso there is another small growth called tor- 
nillo (or screw-wood), so denominated from a 
spiral pericarp, which, though different in 
shape, resembles that of the mezquite in fla- 
vor. The plains and highlands generally are 
of a prairie character, and do not differ mate- 
rially from those of all Northern Mexico, which 
are almost everywhere completely void of 
timber. 
One of the most useful plants to the people 
of El Paso is the lechuguwilla, which abounds 
on the hills and mountain sides of that vicini- 
ty, as well asin many other places from thence 
southward. Its blades, which resemble those 
of the palmilla, being mashed, scraped and 
washed, afford very strong fibres like the com- 
mon Manilla sea-grass, and equally serviceable 
for the manufacture of ropes, and other pur- 
poses. ; : 
