DESERT REGIONS OF NORTH AMERICA. II 
He says: 
The Medanos, or Sandhills, are a peculiar feature in this country, stretching 
in a line from northwest to southeast for some twenty miles, as far as I could judge. 
Nearly destitute of vegetation, their light yellow or whitish appearance presents a 
strong contrast to the deep brown of the adjacent mountains, which form the back- 
ground of the landscape. The sand is very light and fine and forms deep ridges 
resembling the large waves of the ocean. When the wind blows, this sand is set 
in motion, filling up the former valleys and forming new drifts or hills. The road 
is then entirely obliterated, not a footprint or a wagon-rut being left to show the 
direction. Two miles brought us to the spring known as Samalayuca (Ojo de 
Samalayuca). It is a complete oasis in the desert, and consists of a small pool of 
water, in and around which are bushes and trees. It seems to be placed here by 
nature for the weary and thirsty traveler, by whom the route would else be impass- 
able. On the west there is not usually any water nearer than the Salado, thirty 
miles distant, which is also the distance of El Paso, the nearest point to the north. 
Eastward is San Elizario, twenty miles. 
Since these dunes seemed to be unfamiliar.to botanists of to-day, a 
brief visit was made to them by Messrs. Coville and MacDougal, and to 
the region between Samalayuca and a point 6 miles to the southward. 
The dunes, where the railroad crosses them, are about 4o feet high, 
with scant winter vegetation consisting of a few woody plants, prin- 
cipally a labiate bush (Poltomintha incana), an Artemisia, a Chryso- 
thamnus, Yucca radiosa), and a suffrutescent Senecio. Two perennial 
grasses, an Andropogon and a Sporobolus with a spike-like panicle (Sporo- 
bolus crysptandrus), are of frequent occurrence, as are the remnants of 
many annual plants. The Yucca takes an important part in binding 
the sands; roots were seen extending in a nearly horizontal direction 40 
feet from the plant. 
From the dunes toward Samalayuca the valley bottom has vegetation 
of mesquite mixed with Zizyphus, Keberlinia spinosa, and Airiplex 
canescens. An annual Croton forms a thick, spindle-shaped tumble- 
weed adapted for rolling along one axis. 
The highest part of the dunes is not crossed by the railroad, but lies 
east and southeast from Samalayuca about 5 miles and apparently rises 
200 feet from the plain. 
About 9 pounds of the material of which the dunes were composed 
was collected by removing a thin surface layer and then placing it in a 
cloth waterproof bag. This material was forwarded to Dr. W. J. Gies, 
consulting chemist to the New York Botanical Garden, with the request 
for an analysis. The results obtained by him are found on pages 16 and 17 
of this paper. - 
THE OTERO BASIN. 
Extending northward for nearly 100 miles from El Paso is the noted 
Jornada del Muerto (Journey of Death), which has a width of 30 to 4o 
miles. It formed a portion of the route connecting the earliest settle- 
ments along the Rio Grande, and here the traveler was compelled to 
