Jan., i9o5 I THE CONDOR 2 3 The first three days we devoted to exploring the mesquite forest,. with most gratifying results. In the early morning the medley of bird songs was absolutely confusing, and the number of individuals of the many species found in this region, was far beyond what is usually the case in the lowlands of Arizona, where, al- though quite a variety of species may often be found, the conditions are not such as to support an abundance of animal life of any kind. A little later several days were spent in investigating the secrets hidden in the giant cactuses. Just north of our camp was a steep, circular hill, apparently of volcanic origin, covered with loose, black boulders, and rising abruptly from the fertile valley, like an island from the sea, other similar ones, being irregularly scattered through the valley. Aside from some thin, straggly larrea bushes, and a few small cactuses, the only vegetable growth on the hill was the giant cactus (Cereus ?i?anteus), with which huge plants the southern slope was thickly covered, there being none upon the opposite side. In working in the mes- quites we were always in the shade, and did not suffer much from the heat, but out on this hill, exposed to the full glare af the Arizona sun, we found it impossi- ble to work except in the early morning and late in the afternoon, being driven to shelter in the middle of the day. It is no joke to carry a twenty-foot ladder about on level ground, from one cactus to another, but on a steep hillside, stumbling over loose boulders, dodging cactus, and with the perspiration running in one's eyes, a person feels that he earns pretty nearly all that he succeeds in getting. The cac- tuses on this barren, unattractive looking hill xvere particalarly rich in bird life, and one or two species were found that did not seem to occur at all out on the fiat, open mesa, though the elf owls were probably more abundant in the latter locality. On June ?x, while miles from camp, Mr. Stephens and I were caught in a thunder shower. I suppose it is right to call it a shower, for it did not last many hours, but then the way in rains in Arizona it does not need to continue many hours before the heavens are emptied. We plodded back, ankle deep in water, along roads where we had kicked up clouds of dust on startitxg out in the morning; and that night the river rose so, that, had not the banks been worn fifteen or more feet deep by previous similar occurrences, one camp would have probably been washed away, and we would have been obliged to take to the trees. Two days later we left this place and started for the Santa Rita Mountains. All of one day we drove up the valley of the Santa Cruz, thirty miles or more, then, turning to the left, headed straight to the mountains, which we reached about noon of June ?5. Our camp was pitched near the month of what appeared to be the best, ahnost the only, canyou of any size on the west side of the moun- tains. It was very broad, with widely extending slopes on either side, running up to a low saddle on the divide. The altitude at this point on the divide was 740o feet, and at our camp 45o0 feet. From the saddle, the mountain on the north ran up to a high granite peak, steep and nearly bare of vegetation, to an altitude of nearly io, ooo feet. Below the mountains the canyon continued in the shape of a deep, sharply defined ravine, extending for miles, but turning sharply to the south, so as to run nearly parallel with the range. This ravine was densely wooded with sycamore, oak, mesquite and other trees. The whole of the lower parts of the mountains were thickly covered with live oaks, and in the higher parts there was some, though not a great deal, pine timber. On the west side we found the mountains covered nearly everywhere with thick brush, and, in the higher parts, exceedingly steep and rough, so that it was impossible to travel in comfort anywhere but along the main canyon, and in one or two of its branches. In years gone by there was a great deal of timber taken out of these mountains, and traces
