Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 
5 
in the desert, there appeared a straggling line of trees, mostly 
Arizona cottonwoods, which became larger and more numerous as 
we approached the mouth of the Canyon. 
Here bird life was very much in evidence. Colonies of Arkansas 
kingbirds flew from the tops of the cottonwoods with great clamor; 
here and there a vermilion flycatcher fluttered down through the 
air like a brilliant autumn leaf as he performed his flight song. 
Mockingbirds and lark sparrows were in full voice, and Arizona, 
Bullock’s, and Scott’s orioles were to be seen in the tree tops. 
The bare rounded hills that now appeared on either side were 
capped by numerous agaves or century plants their great clusters 
of spiny, fleshy leaves showing conspicuously while their flower 
stalks, later to tower up like giant candelabra, were now in the 
same early asparagus condition as those of the tree yuccas, but of 
much greater diameter and already two to three feet high. 
As we entered the canyon, the trail at once began to ascend. A 
line of rim rock soon loomed above us on either side half a mile or 
more distant, marking the sides of the canyon, and as we advanced 
they gradually converged, while the high peaks which had been be¬ 
fore us all the while seemed to sink down behind the lower ones 
immediately before us. 
The lower, scrubby oaks looked to an easterner like holly bushes, 
the leaves being small and of much the same outline, with similar 
spiny margins. The taller species, with their gnarled trunks and 
spreading branches reminded one of apple trees, and the scattered 
oak woods recalled old deserted orchards in the east, though they, 
like the scrub oaks, have the holly-like leaves. At the time of our 
arrival the old leaves were all being shed and the new ones just 
budding so that the ground was covered with a brown and yellow 
carpet recalling autumn rather than spring. 
Conspicuous among the shrubs was the Apache plume with its 
white blossoms like those of the blackberry and very short lin¬ 
ear leaves. Later the clusters of seeds develop long plume like 
appendages of delicate pink, producing a beautiful effect as the 
sunlight plays upon the bushes, and reminding one of the mist trees 
of our gardens. 
At a little cabin in the midst of the oaks and close to the rocky 
stream, which was now nearly dry, we made our headquarters, 
thanks to the hospitality of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Hands, whose 
ranch lay a little farther down the canyon and whose brother, 
then absent, owned the cabin. 
