MAMMALS OF THE MEXICAN BOUNDARY. 



79 



Record of temperature {Fahrenheit) and sunshine at Fort Hancock, Texas- 



Contiuued. 



]\lcaii tchipcrature.i. 



Annual rainfall : 1889, 6.00 ; 1890, 4.36 ; 1891, 3.71 ; 1892, 6.94 ; 1893, 5.84. 

 Average, 5.25 ; maximum, 6.94 ; minimum, 3.71. 



Station No. 4.- — Belen station, Southern Pacific Railroad, El Paso 

 County, Texas. Altitude, about 1,100 meters (3,610 feet). This 

 region was visited by me in June, 1893. It is largely irrigated and 

 under cultivation. Eeptiles, birds, mammals, and plants were col- 

 lected. 



Vegetation. — The Rio Grande and the irrigation acequias are lined 

 with the almondleaf willow, Fremont cottonwood, arrowwood, 

 and Baccharis; the rich bottom land, where uncultivated, supports 

 a luxuriant growth of mesquite and tornillo, or screw bean; and 

 green orchards, gardens, and fields of grain and alfalfa are situated 

 between the river and the canal, beyond which lies the desert, with 

 its contrasting flora of scant cactus, Kaberlinia, and creosote bush. 



Station No. 5. — El Paso, Texas. Altitude 1,135 meters (3,724 

 feet) ; latitude, 31° 45' ; longitude, 106° 29'. The Franklin and 

 Muleros mountains close in upon the Rio Grande several miles .above 

 El Paso, that town occupying the upper portion of a desert lake 

 basin, which extends down the river to the Quitman Mountains, 

 where it again enters a canyon. This basin is sandy, arid, and sterile, 

 except on the river flats, which are alluvial and very productive 

 where irrigation has been effected. 



I was quartered in El Paso while the surveying party was being 

 organized and remained there from February 1 to March 14, 1892. 

 Daily trips were made to the surrounding country, and mammal 

 trapping and bird collecting were systematically carried on. Some- 

 times these excursions were extended to Juarez, on the Mexican side 

 of the Rio Grande, or down to the cultivated lands about Isletta, on 

 the Texas side of the river; and, after February 17, on which date 



