CAMP FIRES ON DESERT AND LAVA* 



THE expedition described in this 

 most valuable book was an ex- 

 ploration of a genuine terra in- 

 cognita, for while it is true that the 

 Pinacate region, lying in the north- 

 western corner of Mexico, or, broadly 

 speaking, in the Sonoran Desert between 

 Tucson, Arizona, and the Gulf of Cali- 

 fornia, was known to a few Papago In- 

 dians and several Mexicans, it was to- 

 tally unknown to the outside world. 

 There was no information whatever 

 about this region, and on all available 

 maps the space around the Pinacate dot 

 was an absolute blank. 



Naturally, the animal and plant life of 

 the Pinacate region was as much un-,.- 

 known as us geography ; hence the value 

 of the results obtained to the botanist, 

 zoologist, sportsman, and geographer. 



Mr Hornaday tells in a graphic way of 

 the wonders of the desert region, of ex- 

 tinct volcanoes, the marvelous desert 

 botanical gardens, and of hunting moun- 

 tain sheep in the lava, together with 



chapters of absorbing interest on the 

 legend and history of that country, the 

 book being splendidly illustrated with 

 photographs of the expedition. 



Describing the desert vegetation, the 

 author says : The White Brittle-bush, as 

 seen standing alone on bare black lava, 

 is truly a thing of beauty. It is hemi- 

 spherical, symmetrical, immaculate, and 

 clean as a new^ shirt. It is a big white 

 bouquet. Its leaves are all on the out- 

 side, and although its branches are larf 

 and stocky — for the storage of water 

 they are so brittle that you can grasp 

 a great handful of the outer stems and, 

 with one movement, snap off every one 

 of them as if they were so many pipe- 

 stems of clay. The leaves are very 

 large — for a desert plant — the blade 

 being shaped like a broad arrow-head, 

 one and one-half inches long by one and 

 one-quarter wide. The flower is a little 

 yellow composite, like a tiny yellow 

 daisy, thrust fal^ up on the tip of a frail 

 and friable little flower-stalk six inches 



* "Camp Fires on Desert and Lava." By Wm. T. Hornaday, Sc. D., pp. 366, 50 ilkistra- 

 tions, 8 in colors. Charles Scribner Sons : New York. $3.30 postpaid. 



THE WHITE BRITTEE-BUSH 



