210 THE FORESTS AND DESERTS OF ARIZONA 



clump of the scrubby Rock}^ mountain white-oak (Quercus gam- 

 belii) forms a pleasing contrast. 



As we reach an altitude of 9,000 feet a change of scene occurs; 

 the 3^ellow-green, heavj^-foliagecl bull pine is supplanted b}^ the 

 graceful, dark-green white pine of the Rockies (Pinus flexilis) and 

 the still more striking Douglas spruce, which in scattered indi- 

 viduals studs the now really grassy slope, for at this higher alti- 

 tude more moisture and less evaporation favor the grassy growth. 

 One thousand feet higher and we reach the region of the Foxtail 

 pine (P. arisiata), well named, for the long, flexible branchlets 

 closely beset at their ends with crowded needles exhibit strik- 

 ingly the appearance of a fox's tail. As we ascend, the Engelmann 

 spruce, as widely distributed over the w^est as the bull pine, joins 

 these trees and with them forms a more or less dense forest, the 

 trunks short and much branched and gnarly, of little or no eco- 

 nomic value. Here we find also in a few individuals a beautiful 

 fir, a hew accession to our flora, w^hich Dr Merriam has this sum- 

 mer described as the Arizona cork fir (Abies arizonicd) from speci- 

 mens gathered on this very trip from this very tree. At 11,500 

 feet the last Engelmann spruce, tousled and shorn by the wintry 

 blasts at this high elevation, and low creeping jumpers, denote 

 timber line. Toward the northeast we look down into whsit was 

 ,once an enormous volcano, one side blown out ; the three peaks 

 are still above us. 



A short climb of a thousand feet more over large blocks of lava 

 or gravelly detritus brings us to the top of Humphrey's peak. 

 From here the eye sweeps over a goodly portion of the northern 

 part of the territory, and the vast expanse of the pine land can be 

 traced. Toward the north stretches the Coconino forest, flank- 

 ing the Grand Canon, whose sheer walls on the opposite side are 

 dimly discerned. Eastward and northeastward the color of the 

 clouds indicates the position of the Painted desert, separated from 

 the San Francisco forest by a fringe of junipers and piiions at the 

 levels between 6,000 and 7,000 feet ; toward the south and south- 

 east, far as the eye can imagine sight — to the Mogollon and White 

 mountains — and westward beyond the three-peaked landmark 

 of Bill Williams mountain and Mount Sitgreaves, stretches the 

 sea of pines, covering altogether an area of not less than 3,000 

 square miles. 



It is proper that we should give full consideration to San Fran- 

 cisco mountains, for not only are they among the most picturesque 

 and interesting to the sightseer, geologist, and plant geographer, 



