482 Dr. T. 0. Bosivorth — Arid Conditions in S.W. Texas. 



quickly within a few weeks of the spring. The mean temperature 

 exceeds 80° F. throughout the three summer months, but it is not 

 much above 50° F. in January. The air is very clear, and mirages 

 are visible in summer and autumn. The wind blows almost 

 constantly in from the Gulf, and often is very strong, causing sand- 

 storms. At times there is a sudden fall in temperature brought 

 about by a cold wind from the North, known as a ' Norther ', which 

 occasionally attains to the violence of a mild hurricane. 



Geology and Topography around Crowther. — Around Crowther the 

 high ground (about 700 feet above sea-level) is a steep dissected 

 escarpment or plateau, with bluffs sometimes nearly 100 feet high and 

 outliers in the form of table-like hills. The high ground is capped 

 bv a series of nearly horizontal calcareous sandstones, shales, and 

 clays, about 50 feet thick, containing marine fossils. Eelow is a thick 

 series of soft sands and clays containing much fossil wood and a few 

 freshwater shells. The lower ground viewed from afar off appears 

 flat, but is found to be an irregular succession of different levels with 

 small steep steps between them. The whole is intersected by 

 innumerable steep narrow gullies. A few miles away to the south 

 lies the wide River Frio, an intermittent stream whose waters join 

 the River jSTueces, which flows into the Gulf. 



Fauna. — A few years ago wild cattle and horses roamed these 

 plains, probably obtaining a bare living during the spring months 

 and I'etreating elsewhere in the drier seasons. Amongst the present 

 fauna are some deer, the coyote, hares and rabbits, rattlesnakes, the 

 'horned toad', birds, etc. Until quite recently a tribe of wandering 

 Indians held sway, and their old camping-grounds are marked by 

 numerous stone arrow-heads and other remains. There is a wide 

 territory hardly touched as yet by man, except at a few places where 

 Artesian water has been won to irrigate the land. 



Vegetation. — The country is devoid of grass, but is more or less 

 liberally sprinkled over with the prickly-pear cactus and stunted 

 bushes of ' mezquit ' and chaparal. All these plants are well 

 protected with thorns and spines to resist any wretched animals 

 which strive for existence on this barren land. In winter, cattle 

 overcome with hunger and thirst will eat the prickly but juicy 

 cactus leaves until their tongues are so bristling with long thorns 

 that they are unable to draw them back into their mouths. Men 

 who have kept cattle in these places go around the cactus buslies 

 with gasoline lamps, burning off the thorns. The mezquit, besides 

 being armed with thorns, has an exceedingly bitter taste, but the 

 beans which grow upon this bush are the most serviceable fodder 

 which the land provides. Notably amongst the other peculiar 

 prickly desert plants is the large aloe, known as the ' Spanish 

 dagger'. At the centre of this plant reaching often to a height 

 of 10 or 12 feet is a straight flower-stem bearing a spire of thickly 

 clustered flowers which the animals find edible. The flower is amply 

 defended by a chevrise of long strong leaves of sword-like shape, 

 with sharp points (see PI. XVI, Fig, 1). Along some of the 

 watercourses, however, are a few live oaks and other trees. Large 

 trees grow profusely on the alluvial soil alongside the River Frio. 



