. The continent we live on. Physical geography; Natural history. This whole inland artM in days nuisl have been remarkable; it appears to have been kept in somelhinj* like its early condition by means of fue. both naturally generated by lightnins and artificially by the Amerindians The Spaniards brought in longhorn cattle and horses, both of which went feral in droves and which for a period much altered the landscape, eating out the underbrush and permitting grass to lake over. But these too. like the Amerinds, died away, and the natural flora began to take over again. Deer also m
. The continent we live on. Physical geography; Natural history. This whole inland artM in days nuisl have been remarkable; it appears to have been kept in somelhinj* like its early condition by means of fue. both naturally generated by lightnins and artificially by the Amerindians The Spaniards brought in longhorn cattle and horses, both of which went feral in droves and which for a period much altered the landscape, eating out the underbrush and permitting grass to lake over. But these too. like the Amerinds, died away, and the natural flora began to take over again. Deer also multiplied and other more docile strains of cattle were introduced, and in the Welder area —now protected—a limited number of the latter are allowed to roam at will to keep down the underbrush and to permit some grass to survive. There is now estimated to be about one of the small Texas White-tailed Deer per eight acres hereabouts. Thus this bit of territory, it is believed, once again looks not too dif- ferent from what it did before the European came to upset the biological balance (though it is thought that it was even then not a climax type) that is supposed to have prevailed under the Amerindians. This northern half of the triangle (see map) is formed of three great steps—the Nueces Plain inland above the low Bordas Escarpment, the main coastal plain, and the coastal lowlands strip of marshes. The second devolves to the south into a large sand plain. The valley of the Rio Grande, from its mouth to the present town of Rio Grande, is rich alluvium and is now exten- sively cultivated, but west of this point it becomes very arid on both sides of the river. Here we have entered the Desert Belt which forms an expanding wedge to the east but is. as it were, plugged by the delta and the intensively cultivated lands of the river valley. When these lands are left fallow they develop a desert form of diaparral without any grasses, with many cac- tuses and a tangle of small-leafe
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