30 CRUISE OF THE BARRERA 



At this particular point the Sierra de los Organos 

 may be said to be at its very best. Several more 

 or less distinct ranges come close together and 

 offer the great advantage of convenient passes 

 from one to the other. The collector of land- 

 shells, or insects, or reptiles, or birds, — the botan- 

 ist with his herbarium, the geologist with his 

 hammer seeking to unravel the mystery of the 

 mountains, — must stand at first a little confused, 

 not knowing just which way to start, the outlook 

 being so inviting in every direction. These 

 calcareous mountains are areas of great concentra- 

 tion of life, and they are therefore very generous 

 to him in search of specimens. They are full of 

 wonderful caves, deep gorges, perpendicular walls, 

 overhanging cliffs, rivers that appear from under- 

 ground and disappear again quite as mysteriously. 

 No one uninoculated with the virus of nature 

 study can quite understand the feelings of a 

 naturalist who first stands upon the threshold of 

 his promised land. The hunter has his thrill at 

 sight of game and he derives a savage and elemen- 

 tal sort of satisfaction when he destroys its life. 

 The fisherman loves the feel of a strike and he too 

 lives faster as he watches his victim gasp out its 



