THE SEA AND THE DESERT 207 



pinnacles of rock which compose it are clearly 

 cut against the sky. Approach one of these 

 ranges from the north, and the ascent is not 

 only gradual, until near the summit, but the 

 entire set of conditions prevailing on the other 

 side of the mountains are absent. A series of 

 table-lands, mesas, and natural terraces rise 

 gently one above the other, so that the effect in 

 the distance is one of long and gradual ascent. 

 These mesas are flat plains, covered with charac- 

 teristic desert flora, until about four thousand 

 feet altitude is attained. Here the grass becomes 

 much more luxuriant, and besides the mesquite, 

 live oaks are distributed over both the mesa and 

 the sides of the hills, so that the whole effect is 

 park-like. There comes, too, with a higher 

 altitude, a considerable variation in growth and 

 variety of deciduous trees, and finally, at about 

 eight thousand feet, pines stretch to the face of 

 the precipices on the exposed Southern side. 

 Such forests are only rivalled by those of the 

 Sierras in California. Here the giant pine and 

 spruce present a sombre wood of great beauty, 

 well watered by ice-cold mountain streams, the 

 very antithesis of the desert conditions but a 

 few miles distant. 



The traveller who cares to visit a range answer- 

 ing my description, need only stop on his journey 

 at the city of Tucson. From the railway he may 



