* GENERAL EEPOET. 21 



feet we meet the heavily timbered ridges of the Zuni Mountain Plateau. 

 Here the flora presents a marked change, Pinus ponderosa, Pseudotsuga Dou- 

 glasii, and Abies concolor, with here and there a straggling Oak-tree, make up 

 the tree flora of the higher parts, whilst at, lower levels the Piiion Pine and 

 the Western form of our Eastern Juniper appears. Damp ravines, swamps, 

 and running brooks give chance for the growth of grasses, Junci, and Cariccs. 

 Beautiful Pentstemons confer an unusual charm to the scenery, all the 

 greater because of the desert country we have passed through to reach 

 this range. 



The main trend of this chain is from the present Fort Wingate toward 

 the southeast to a point to the west of and some thirty miles from Limita 

 on the Eio Grande at Ojo de la Rosa, where the outlying spurs join with 

 those of the Sierra del Datil coming in from the southwest. The triangle 

 of land thus enclosed is dry, but not always level. Mountain-chains of 

 short length run here and there ; water is only moderately plenty, and the 

 timberless character of even the more elevated parts is in strong contrast 

 with the description given by Lieut. C. C. Morrison of the Zuni Mountains: 

 "Following the axial line was a wide valley running nearly the entire 

 length of the range, abounding in the most beautiful glades with bunch- 

 grass 18 inches high, standing as thick as it could grow, here and there 

 rooted out in the damper places by red and white clover. The Zuni 

 Mountains are a low range, reaching in no place much over 9,000 feet." 

 From these mountains south we again enter a region more or less desert in 

 its character, the only timber being the Pinon Pine and Juniperus. Here 

 and there water may be found as at Zuni and Deer Spring and Cave 

 Spring. In the damper areas, luxuriant growths of sedges and the common 

 Mimulus luteus showed what the capacity of the soil was. In this area, an 

 occasional basin may be found in which corn, etc , can be raised without 

 irrigation. Such a one was observed just south of Zuni. The probable 

 explanation is that a sub-soil of clay retains the moisture which is drained 

 in from the higher grounds around, and the dry, sandy soil allows the seed 

 to be planted a foot deep to meet the ascending moisture without being 

 rotted in its somewhat prolonged struggle upward into sunlight. Some- 

 times for miles, as in a valley south of Deer Spring, the soil is actually a 



