302 
LANDSCAPE SCENERY. 
Book II. 
domestic animals. I had great difficulty in procuring half 
a dozen eggs. 
From this point the road runs through a wooded valley, 
between high mountains of sandstone which in the distance 
are surmounted by still loftier heights of limestone, while 
a base of deeper limestone is underlying them. At the 
entrance of this valley the landscape is completely changed. 
In parts, we passed through a forest of lofty pines; in 
others, through a scattered wood of pines and juniper-trees. 
The latter has often a very picturesque growth. Like 
other species of the Juniperus and certain Taxodiw, the 
juniper of this region shows a remarkable variety of cha- 
racter in its form and growth, according to age and habitat. 
The cypress remains, however, the fundamental type of its 
physiogonomy. But the reader must not think of the 
stiff-twisted forms of the Juniperus Virginiana, which 
disfigure so many a landscape in the United States. Red 
sandstone rocks rise above this wood, in part presenting the 
appearance of w 7 alls with battlements and loopholes. In 
riding for a whole day uninterruptedly, down a' steep 
road, we were able to form an idea of the great height 
of this plateau, at its highest point little under 7000 feet. 1 
Upon a kind of side terrace of the declivity, where the 
sandstone rests upon the limestone, we came to the sources 
of a saltish and alkaline brook, running for some distance 
through the grass, from one hole to another, until it falls 
westwards into a deep and narrow cleft, and through the 
latter finds its way down into the valley of the Eio Grande. 
The limestone rocks of this gorge show in several places the 
entrances to caverns. The brook itself is called " Salado " 
1 There no doubt exist measurements 
of the altitude of Manzanas and Cuarra, 
as some officers of the United States 
liavo made surveys of this part of the 
country. They are, however, unknown 
to mo. The Eio Grande, in this section, 
is 4800 feet above the lovel of the sea. 
