376 = Texas in its Geognostic and A ericultural Aspect. [June, 
only on the coast but in the whole region, we find those plants 
and insects living near salt-water only. The long narrow islands 
lying along the coast of Texas must necessarily, on account of 
their situation and physical condition, be considered as parts of 
the Lowlands. 
2. The Hill country, or Uplands. This consists of the pre- 
vailing level and hilly region between the lower coast-range and 
the higher and partly rocky highlands beyond. Its width i$ from 
a hundred and fifty to three hundred miles, about one hundred to 
one thousand feet above the sea. According to its geological 
composition, it partakes in equal parts of the tertiary and 
secondary formations. * The fertility of its soil is exclusively due 
to the composition of these formations, hence within it are embraced 
the fairest and most prolific portions of the State. Large, exten- 
sive prairies are situated in the west, with strips of timber along 
the creeks and rivers, also large and small forests diffused here 
and there, but composed wholly of post-oak. The eastern por- 
tion is almost entirely covered with forests of a great diversity of. 
timber. 
3. The Highlands. These arise behind the rolling hill-land, 
beginning in the west on the Rio Grande, where, at its confluence 
with the San Pedro, it suddenly turns its eastern into a south- 
eastern course. Thence the boundary extends due east to the 
great sources of the San Antonio; thence north-east to Austin ; 
and thence due north it reaches the Red river near the mouth of 
the Little Wichita. 
From the Rio Grande to Austin, the boundary between the 
Hill country and the Highlands is well marked and sharp ; while 
from the latter point to Red river the transition is more gradual 
and more difficult to define. The highest places in it rise scarcely 
2500 feet above the sea, excepting the Guadalupe mountain, west 
of the Pecos river. In the north-west part of the State, towards 
New Mexico, the elevation slowly increases towards the Rocky 
mountains. No higher mountain chains are at all to be seen, and 
this region has rather the character of a high table-land. The 
inequalities arise more from the excavations of valleys and 
ravines, while the elevations generally maintain the same level. 
In its geological character it is greatly diversified, belonging, as 
it does, to the tertiary, secondary and primary formations. In very 
_ many places the soil is very dry, sterile and rocky, especially the 
