
76 
exposed. These nearly related species 
are found side by side, yet neither spe- 
cies invades on the territory of the other. 
On the north, Parry’s pinyone extends 
to the higher table lands of Santa Cata- 
lina mountains of an altitude of 6,000 to 
7,000 feet, where it is restricted to the 
rocky hills, the pinyos or ‘‘bull pine’’ (P. 
Jeffreysi) here forming a seemingly lim- 
itless forest. 
One Indian employed as guide, calling 
himself Jose Capitan of the Picos (or in 
his own style Capitan ‘‘Jose Capitan 
Pico’’) and seemingly a permanent resi- 
dent of the country, worked in the mines 
for 60 to 80c per day. The Indians met 
in 1883 called themselves ‘‘La Costas,’’ 
and claimed to spend the winters on the 
shores of Todos Santos bay, where they 
are employed in getting abalones (Halio- 
tis), moving to this region during the 
pinyone season, the pinyone nuts form- 
ing an important addition to their fare. 
Huge piles of aiternate layers of the 
cones and pine branches are burned, 
when the seed is easily shaken out ready 
roasted for eating. Several of the In- 
dians met later called themselves Mari- 
copas, and were seen to depart for the 
Colorado river. A family of Cocopa In- 
dians were found in the great canyon in 
1883, but not seen later, who had not 
adopted the cast-off garments of civiliza- 
tion, aS the other Indians had mostly 
done, but were in native dress~ The 
costume of one of the La Costa Indians 
at Todos Santos bay has been described 
to-me as consisting of a pair of red mit- 
tens ! 
The mescal plant (Agave deserti) forms 
an important article of food with the In- 
dians, and the fiber of the ieaves is util- 
ized in making ropes, cord, sandals, and 
other things. The wild Nicotiana is used 
for tobacco; Sambucus glauca and Men- 
tha Canadense furnishes their tea when 
they cannot buy the genuine; the beau- 
tiful golden lichen, Evernia vulpina, is 
called as ‘‘good as sugar’’; the seed of a — 
species of Mentzelia and of Echinocac- 
tus are pronounced as “ very good to eat ”’ 
when inade into flour and cooked, and 
the mesquite and tesoto beans are made 
of use for food. An occasional attempt 
is made at raising a few melons and a 
little corn by the Indians, but ‘‘ Yankee 
fare’’ is preferred, naturally, to their own 
native productions, our sugar, salt and 
flour being fully appreciated. 
In leaving the Parry’s pinyone forest 
and entering the district of Pinus mono- 
phylla, a truly desert flora is met, other . 
varieties of shrubs, cacti and porush gen- 
erally abound, but Rhus ovata, Wats., 
Arctostaphylos pungens and a few others 
follow along the old Fort Yuma trail, 
besides the pretty lLoeselia, Fragera 
Parryi, Argemone hispida and others 
abundant among the pinyones. But 
these disappear in descending several 
thousand feet into the great canyon 
_which has yielded suen a rich flora to 
the world. Fouquiera splendens stands 
guard along the trail, Echinocactus cyl- 
indraceus stands erect, five to seven feet 
high, and thousands of the ‘‘blue palm,”’ 
with their glaucous green tops, dot the 
borders of the arrovo. 
The beautiful ‘‘Chile de la agua’’ 
(Palmerella debilis, Gray) clusters 
around the single spring near the base 
of the trail, and a few ferns among the 
rocks, Parry’s Notholena, Venus-hair 
and a Woodsia, form exceptions to the 
characteristically spiny plants. 
The sides of the canyon are mostly of 
granite, containing quantities of black 
and white mica, garnets, tourmaline, 
feldspar, with occasional stratas of slate, 
usually perpendicular. A white rattle- 
snake, about the color of the dark gran- 
ite, was seen on the desert, but animal 
life is scarce excepting a great variety of 
insects and lizards. 
A Succinea, Vertigo ovata, Planorbis 
parvus, Physa and Limax sp. completes 

