44o 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



Palma china (Yucca australis) in the Village of Cedkos. Photo by E. A. Crane. 



The heavy rains, sometimes as much as an inch in a few hours, run 

 off with great rapidity through the drainage channels and twenty-four 

 hours later the sides of the mountains and the footslopes appear as if 

 not having known a rain in six months. Here and there in the bot- 

 toms of the canons a pocket in the rock holds a gallon or two of sweet 

 pure water, and out upon the plain pools may linger for a few days on 

 the clay. 



Here the summer months are the months of rain, but in most 

 months of the year a little rain may be had. As springtime advances 

 clouds may be seen along the distant slopes and among the peaks with 

 a trailing haze of rain beneath. Though in the summer-time the rain 

 clouds are partial to the highlands, yet more often do they wander out 

 across the plain. Scarce a day of summer passes but showers may be 

 seen falling on some part of the landscape, but the amount falling on 

 any particular area is relatively small. 



