418 THE DEVIL'S RIVEB. Book IT. 
It may be that a stray one is occasionally driven thus far 
south by the Indians hunting. 
On the 6th of June we arrived, after a harassing 
journey, at the notorious Devil's River. The name is 
justified by the wildness of the scenery, though more in 
reference to the difficulties of the traveller than to its 
artistic effect. 
We reached the valley by a steep descent, the sides 
consisting of rocky, and in many places perpendicular, 
hills. Here it was like another world. Above, a stony 
steppe with short grass, different kinds of cactus, dwarf 
yuccas, and the stiff dasylirium with its giant spikes of 
flowers ; below, plane, oak, and walnut trees, thickets of 
wild plums, intertwined with vines, and high thick grass, 
from among which were visible the scarlet ipomopsis, and 
the blue tradescantia. 
But before I proceed with my description of this valley 
I must speak of the region through which we passed from the 
Pecos. One peculiarity is the repeated occurrence of dead 
mezquite trees, of considerable size, with the growth of 
young ones, — there being no intermediate stage of size or 
age. This probably has been caused by repeated prairie 
fires, which destroyed the old trees, and prevented the 
growth of fresh ones. If this is the case, it must stand in 
connexion with a periodical peopling of the country. At 
Chihuahua, a man who had been a great deal in this locality 
told me that for a long period no Indians had lived there, 
during which it was covered by a thick mezquite wood. 
Subsequently certain hordes came here, and with them the 
prairie fires began. In later times the advance of the. 
whites into Texas has driven back the savages, and re- 
strained their visits; and the prairie fires ceasing, trees 
and shrubs have again appeared. 
