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16 INDIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST. 
characteristic of the lesser elevations. The river banks 
generally are lined with cottonwoods and sycamores, 
giving the general appearance of verdure. 
There are other members of the vegetable kingdom 
more characteristic of the Southwest than the trees 
enumerated above. Among thesemay be mentioned the 
century plant, or agave, the mescal of the Spanish- 
speaking residents, and the several species of yucca. 
The more arid portions of the country, the unwatered 
upper region and the low desert regions have many 
varieties of cactus, which are able to maintain them- 
selves through a drought and make use of the occasional 
rains. During the rainy season of August, flowers are 
abundant and general verdure is common. 
The aridity of the region is more impressive in regard 
to the atmosphere itself. The snows of winter vanish into 
the air leaving little surface water or mud. During 
most of the year the small amount of moisture in the 
air enables one to see for a long distance and observe 
small details; in other words, atmospheric perspective 
is largely wanting. This is at first very bewildering to 
the visitor who has been accustomed to judge distance 
by the amount of intervening haze. While the distant 
mountains are not obscured, the atmosphere does im- 
part to them varying shades of blue which combined 
with the varying local color of the landscape and the often 
gorgeous dawns and sunsets make the Southwest ex- 
tremely colorful. 
The animals of the Southwest were chiefly those 
characteristic of the western United States in general. 
There were occasional visitors from Mexico, such as the 
macaw, the peccary, and possibly the jaguar. Of econo- 
mic importance were the turkey, quail, deer, antelope, 
rabbits, and wood-rats. Elk occupied the region but 
were not easily killed. The bison, on the other hand, were 
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