VI. FLORA AND FAUNA 



A LARGE element in the attraction of Our 

 Araby lies in the novelty of its animal and 

 vegetable life. The former is a matter princi- 

 pally for naturalists, who find interest in noting the 

 variations from type as regards habits, color, size, 

 etc., wrought by special conditions among the mam- 

 mals, birds, and reptiles of the desert. Yet one need 

 not be a scientist in order to appreciate the humors 

 of, for instance, the jolly little hairy-tailed desert 

 mice who have chummed up with me by many a 

 camp-fire, where they equally amused and amazed 

 me by taking headers into the hot ashes at every 

 opportunity, as though the thought of being baked 

 alive was irresistible. This, too, is the place to enjoy 

 the antics of that fine joker and gymnast, the road- 

 runner, of whom strange tales are told, yet none too 

 strange to seem credible to his admirers. 



There would be little value to anyone in printing 

 here a detailed list of the birds and animals found 

 in our territory. Such a list would run into hun- 

 dreds of items (of rats, mice, gophers, or lizards, 

 for instance, many different kinds would need to be 

 noted, as well as of sundry birds:) and without the 

 aid of colored illustrations it would be all but 

 worthless, even if lengthy descriptions and measure- 

 ments were given. A brief enumeration of the birds, 

 mammals, and reptiles is given below, regarding 



