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Show 121 that, when onoe drained, could be made very productive. For several miles south of this place the road lay through a valley from two to ten miles wide, the surrounding mesas absolutely hemming it in on all Bides with their precipitous walls. Skirting the edge of thiB valley there was a fair supply of timber, and at several points springs appeared at the bases of the mesas. The soil, though in some places somewhat alkaline, was absolutely black with decaying vegetable matter, and seemed in point of fertility like a vast mass of compost. It certainly is a fine situation for herds at any season of the year, and might even prove a favorable farming location, though on this point I am unable to speak with certainty. From the abundance of water on the sides of the valley it is not improbable that water in abundance could be had by digging. Twelve miles south of Deer Spring the scene changed, and we entered a waste of sand- hills, which stretched off south to the Little Colorado. They were covered with the usual desert growth of grease- wood, sand- grass, and sagr- brush. An occasional clump of pifion pines survived the desperate struggle for existe. ee, serving to show at least how hardy the tree is. The Little Colorado is, where we crossed it, a deep, narrow stream, with water enough for irrigating purposes ; hence the immediate valley m: iy be regarded as belonging to the domain of agrionlture. In July the heat of the suud- hills on either side is almost intolerable. Nearer its head, the river drains a valley that now produces fair crops of corn and barley. The proximity of the Sierra Blanca, with their accumulated winter snows melting away until late in the spring, and the frequent showers of Joly and August, make a certainty of the water. Indeed, near the base of the mountains irrigation might almost be dispensed with, so frequent are the showers. We will allude to this region farther on. Cave Spring is fifteen miles sonth of the Little Colorado. The water comes flowing out of the base of the basaltic lava, as is the case with the best springs of the country. As usual, the meadow through which the stream ran had its crop of sedges and rushes, and, in the course of ages, had become quite fertile from the successive crops of vegetation that decayed there. The adjacent hills were wel 1 covered with bunch and grama grasses, notwithstanding the roots had often to penetrate into the crevices of the lava for nutriment. Piflons were sparsely scattered over the country. As a grazing center, this is a desirable location. From this to the bottom of the timber- belt on the Sierra Blanca the road was through a region in which thousands of cattle might roam and find enough of forage most of the year. Water is within easy reach. Arizona is, emphatically, a land of oontrasts in scenery ; its tropical climate either parching the soil and vegetation, or, under a fair supply of water, causing the flora to deck the surface with a luxuriant covering of verdure. Nowhere is this statement more strikingly true than in the Sierra Blanca and the adjoining plains to the south. On the latter, the ensemble of the vegetation is dwarfed and hardened from the aridity of the soil and the rapidity of evaporation. In the mountains, however, dense forests alternate with well- watered glades, covered with a luxuriant growth of grass and flowers. The succulent tissues of the herbaceous vegetation appeared by contrast with the harder plants of the plains to show an excess of vitality; and an abundant nutrition, expansion into leaf, instead of contraction into the least possible evaporating surface, is characteristic of the rank, luxuriant growth of the sierra Blanca. Rising from an altitude of 5,000 feet above the sea to 11,338 feet, and between the 33d and 34th parallels of latitude, we have climate superimposed on climate, from one as dry and hot as that of Sahara to a warm- temperate, a temperate, and a subalpine. The flora of the region ranged from the cacti and acacias of the lower grounds to the asters, golden- rods, and pifion pines of the middle, and, after crossing the belt of the Pinua ponderoaa and large firs, disappearing with dwarfed firs and a heleninm on the summit of the Sierra Blanca. Standing on this elevated peak and looking over the surrounding region, one of the most striking views on the continent is unfolded. Ridges run in all directions from this culminating point, and descend through a stretch of miles like so many radii in an immense circle. They start from a mountain mass of infinite grandeur and dwindle out on the grassy flats from 2,000 to 4,000 feet below. Between them are well-watered valleys, producing grass enongh for all the herds of the Territory. Plains rich in all the glory a wealth of autumn- coloring could confer on their herbaceous vegetation, belts of golden- colored cottonwoods, deep and somber forests of evergreens, contrasting, yet harmonizing, combined to complete this perfect landscape. The impress upon the mind of such a view is final, and can never be forgotten. Where the ridges proper ended, the general slope of the country had been cut into canons each a tributary channel for carrying the torrent of water made by the melting snow to the main stream. Erosion could here be detected, illustrating to us the wonderful history of onr western domain. The mesas thus left between the canons were topped with the ever- present trachytic overflow. *^ Water and fire, each supplementing the other, had impressed the final features on the country. ( See Plate VII.), LL- 9 |