978 Botanical Notes from Tucson, [ December, 
eggs, and after such an interval of time could so accurately de- 
scribe them, is entitled to the fullest credence in other details of 
the story, and I have no doubt of its substantial accuracy, in 
spite of its surprising nature. 
“rT 
BOTANICAL NOTES FROM TUCSON. 
BY JOS. F. JAMES. 
T is not very many years since the Territories of Arizona and 
New Mexico were regarded as the most forbidding countries 
in the world. Every one who went there carried his life in his 
hand, and if he escaped the fierce Apaches and returned home 
with his scalp and a whole skin, he was among the favored of 
mortals. Within the past five years much of-this has changed, 
and the civilization brought about by the advent of railroads and 
the influx of determined miners, has been remarkable. A sojourn 
of some weeks in Arizona, gave me an opportunity to see some 
of the life of that quarter, and in this paper I purpose speaking 
of some things to be seen and found there. 
The city of Tucson is the largest and most important settle- 
ment in Arizona. It is essentially Mexican ; settled as long 28° 
as the end of the seventeenth century, it is one of the oldest towns 
in our country, and from its foundation to the present time, it has 
continued to be the center of the trade of the Territory. Situated in 
the midst of the mining regions, it furnishes supplies to mines on 
the north, east and south, and for the State of Sonora especially, 
is a depot of supplies. It is estimated that at certain seasons of 
the year the trade between Tucson and Sonora amounts ee 
much as a million dollars per month, the imports to the United 
States consisting of fruits, tobacco and whisky, and the exports 
of calicoes and other dry goods. These are carried for a als 
of 300 or 400 miles on the backs of mules through passes 19 ~ 
mountains, and on account of the extreme duties into M : 
much smuggling is constantly going on. af. _ 
The streets of Tucson are narrow and unpaved; many = 
them are a foot deep in finely powdered dust, and a sudden ae 
of wind, such as frequently arises, sweeping along the Oe 
_ Taises a whirling cloud so thick that it is impossible to s¢¢ bees 
ae the street. _ All of the houses are built of “adobe,” the Meena 
Custodian Cincinnati Soc. Nat, Hist. : xe 
distance 
exico, me : 
