TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 185 



and some cattle, owned mostly by 

 the Mexicans, can be seen there. 

 _ In these as well as the many 

 similarly situated mountain ran- 

 ges farther north and around 

 Boerne, Comfort, Waring, Kerr- 

 ville, etc., the tourist and health- 

 seeker can enjoy to his heart's 

 content the grandeur and kalei- 

 doscopic land sceneries of these 

 regions. And whilst some of them 

 long ago have been supplied with 



Our Texas bird family, with the 

 typical 'i'exas nightingale, the 

 mockingbird and whip-poor-will, 

 the red cardinal, scizzor-tail bird 

 and thousands of other bird species, 

 our brilliant wild prairie flowers 

 which Dr. Lindheimer, in New 

 Braunfels half a century ago des- 

 cribed and classified so thoroughly; 

 the many peculiar native trees 

 hundieds of years old — mesquite. 



The "Blue Hole" of San Geronimo — A Natural Natatorium, near the old Gallagher Ranch Post 

 OiEce Station, Bandera Road, northwest of San Antonio; a large, round excavation inside solid rock 

 strata, over ten feet high, with waterfall; an exceedingly romantic scenery, surrounded by forest 

 trees, and once a gathering place for deer, wild turkey and all sorts of forest and mountain animals. 

 It is often used by the weary traveler as a camping and resting place; and outing parties occasionally 

 take a plunge into its asure blue waters, which are said to' be nourished by a spring. 



comfortable private accomoda- 

 tions for health seekers and outing 

 parties, the time may come when 

 these mountain ranges and pic- 

 turesque valleys will be convert- 

 ed into strictly modern and as 

 famous health resorts as any on 

 the American continent or those 

 of Europe. 



hackberry, cedar, poplai; hickory,, 

 persimmon, mustang vines, pecan 

 and walnut, and a large variety 

 of other tree species and fruit- 

 bearing shrubbeiy — all of these 

 the tourist encounteis in his travels 

 through those mountainous por- 

 tions, or along rivulets, the bottom 

 of forests and on open prairie; 



