34 
prevalent. Thesingleplants, with their long branchless stalks, growing 
on the rocky mesas, offer a striking feature to the landscape. I have 
seen good serviceable fences made with the prickly stems of these plants. 
The Nolina (Hickory grass) I saw but sparingly near Devil’s River, 
becoming very abundant farther west. I saw wooden and adobe build- 
ings with the roofs thatched with the long, tough leaves of this plant. 
The leaves are bound with thongs of hide, and I was told that such a 
covering would last for years, and would not leak in rainy weather. 
One man in Juno, who had a roof thatched with this “ grass,” said he 
preferred it to a shingle roof. 
From Devil’s River to Flanders I saw no grasses in bloom away from 
the creeks, except a few stray specimens of Pappophorum apertum and 
on one of the divides a ‘small patch of running mesquite-grass, Hilaria 
cenchroides. At Flanders, in a deep, rocky ravine by the side of a nat- 
ural alkaline well, I found Polypogon Monspeliensis, a grass that is com- 
mon in many places on the Gulf and Atlantic coasts. On account of 
_ the difficulty in getting water we concluded to change our route, 80 
from Flanders we returned to Devil’s River and rode along its west side, 
passing over the mesas and valleys. I saw the Sotolin great abun- 
dance on the hill-sides. At the foot of one of the hills I gathered a few 
specimens of Hilaria mutica. This grass I have seen in large patches 
* west of the Pecos. While going through the picturesque Dead Man’s 
Pass I collected some specimens of Aristida, Panicum reticulatum, and 
a few other species of grass. In one place near a creek I found a few 
plants of the rescue-grass (Bromus unioloides); this is the most western 
point at which I have seen it. Just before reaching Old Camp Hudson 
we rode a short distance along the river, bordered by stately trees of 
poplar and willow, wild china, pecan, and others. Where we camped — 
by the river, opposite the old fort, I found the grasses Paspalum dis- 
tichum and Panicum colonum. We rode some distance up the river. At 
one point I found some fine specimens of Elymus canadensis. Leaving 
the river we rode northwest a few miles, and arrived at Juno post-office. 
Here I noticed the Sotol plentiful on the hills, and by a creek running 
through the place I found a few grasses that are partial to moist places. 
After a day at Juno we proceeded westward to Johnson’s Run. Just 
before reaching it I noticed a small patch of Triodia albescens, and near by 
asmall patch of Hilaria mutica. All along our way from Junoto the Pecos 
I frequently saw small patches of the buffalo-grass, but it looked rather 
parched. Along some of the leads, or draws, as they are called—branches 
of the arroyos—I saw an occasional Aristida, Triodia acuminata, and Ar 
dropogon saccharoides. We passed Howard’s Wells, where a few green 
bunches of Hilaria mutica presented themselves, with a few stray spec _ 
imens of Chloris elegans. Journeying along some distance we ascended 
a steep hill, on the top of which was a large area covered with Lechu- 
guilla. Here I found a few specimens of Schedonnardus Texanus. We 
rode for some hours over a lengthy plateau, our way marked by Nolina 
