A DESERT FASHION SHOW 15 



You must come to the desert in the soft shadows of the 

 moonlit night to see the ethereal beauty of this rare and ex- 

 quisite flower. For only one night in each year does the 

 Cereus Greggii come forth into bloom, scenting the warm 

 sweet air of the desert land for miles and miles with poignant 

 fragrance. When the shadows begin to lengthen and the 

 deepening glow of sunset approaches, the satiny blossoms 

 begin to open (having already loosened and expanded) ; in 

 an hour or so they are fully opened, and as one stands watch- 

 ing them curiously one can actually see them moving and lift- 

 ing from minute to minute, the petals seeming to tremble, so 

 forcibly is Nature causing them to expand. One can detect 

 the lovely fragrance as soon as the blooms start to unfold. 

 During the night thousands of people, Indian and white, 

 gather for the brilliant spectacle of hundreds of thousands of 

 waxy white blossoms; others celebrate In the popular fiestas 

 of the Southwest In old Mexico, or the luaus of far-away 

 Hawaii. At sunrise of the day following, or shortly there- 

 after, the goddess flowers begin to fold, and by nine or ten 

 o'clock on a cloudless morning they are entirely closed. No 

 more may the eye of man behold the lovely colorings, nor 

 sense the exquisite perfume of the Goddess of the Night, un- 

 til her appointed time comes yet again In the Desert Land of 

 Plants and Flowers. 



And now the parade of the Desert's Fashion Show Is over 

 and night Is closing In. But If you wish to see the real show 

 and to appreciate the real beauties of the desert land in 

 flower-time, you must go into the silent sandy wastes when the 

 sun Is gone and the moon Is coming over the mountains, 

 spreading Its gossamer silvery sheen over the floor of the 

 desert In crazy shadow-patch, and watch the blossoms come 

 slowly open, one by one, to receive the kiss of the night dew 

 and the gentle caress of the newborn breeze. For you have 



