SOUTHERN ARIZONA 239 



estimated, by a quarter that was weighed, to ex- 

 ceed eight hundred pounds. At places in the 

 mountains the trails that these bears made, in 

 passing from the manzanita thickets where they 

 slept in the daytime to the live-oak forests where 

 they fed on acorns at night, looked like well-worn 

 highways, and the number of animals that wore 

 such beaten paths must have been great. 



I have encountered all of these animals, and 

 here again must speak of the element of danger. 

 In all my experience in hunting out of doors, I 

 have yet to see the beast that would not go its 

 own way if left alone. The very rat or mouse 

 when cornered will fight, and so will a grizzly 

 bear or a deer, and perhaps any other creature. 

 I have never seen one, and I include them all, — 

 snakes, alligators, wildcats, mountain-lions, pec- 

 caries, and grizzly bears, — that would not, if un- 

 molested, pursue its own way without manifesting 

 interest in the presence of the individual who had 

 intruded. 



It is worthy of note that in this part of Arizona 

 there are two spring seasons during every year. 

 These follow the rainy periods, as I shall pres- 

 ently show. In January and February there is a 

 considerable precipitation; late in February and 

 early in March the ground has become sufiGciently 

 damp for the various seeds, that have been lying 

 ready to sprout, to germinate, and presently the 



