MINIATURE FORTRESSES 139 



enticing as well. It is a cultivated specimen of a low and typ- 

 ical Cane Cactus which grows wild in northern Arizona, New 

 Mexico, and spreads north even into southern Utah and 

 Colorado, thriving at altitudes from five to seven thousand 

 feet in loamy soils of oak, juniper, and pine formations and 

 high grassy lands. This is the "farthest north" for a Cholla 

 to grow. One to two feet high, the shrubs form in rather 

 pretty clumps of silvery glossy slender spines, golden flowers 

 suffused with pink and green tinting, and purple joints on 

 greenish stems. A characteristic cactus of more northern 

 parts and named for Lieutenant A. W. Whipple, in charge 

 of the Whipple Expedition of 1853 and 1854. This ends 

 our long trek over sultry desert lands as we cross the bound- 

 ary line into southeastern Arizona at the customs In No- 

 gales, Mexico. 



And so the greeters of the desert, advance guard of the 

 cactus Invasion from Mexico, see us depart now for a time 

 from the mysterious land of the Fantastic Clan, wherein we 

 have learned of the charm of color, and the strange devices 

 of Nature in her scheme of Cholla growth; and where the 

 fierce, uninviting heat of the desert fails to keep us from en- 

 tering that domain of silence where the midday sun burns all 

 to a crisp under the relentless bombardment of its energy, 

 which after all gives alluring beauty to the wondrous cactus 

 flowers ; and where the cooler shades of evening loose the mild 

 zephyrs that kiss our parched brows and gently lull us to sleep 

 at night with moonbeams playing at random among the 

 canon shadows, gossamerlike and eerie In the ghostly light of 

 the stars. And once again In fancy we behold these armored 

 Cholla, silent fortresses of the desert, looming against the 

 mountain sides, with their beautiful rainbows of gorgeous 

 hue blossoming forth but to fade and die, never to appear 

 anew in their shimmering colorful sheens of glory against 



