. Campfires on desert and lava . erect a high mountain on a piece of level groundthe size of a city lot, let him take as his motif and modelan Arizona mountain, follow it closely, and if he repro-duces it faithfully he shall acquire merit. I have seen, and at times experienced, mountains inour own grand Rockies, in the Sierra Nevadas, BritishColumbia, the AUeghenies and Adirondacks, Italy, Indiaand elsewhere in the Far East, but nowhere have I en-countered or enjoyed such upright mountains, nor suchdownright peculiar mountains, as those of southwesternArizona. If you have not yet seen them to
. Campfires on desert and lava . erect a high mountain on a piece of level groundthe size of a city lot, let him take as his motif and modelan Arizona mountain, follow it closely, and if he repro-duces it faithfully he shall acquire merit. I have seen, and at times experienced, mountains inour own grand Rockies, in the Sierra Nevadas, BritishColumbia, the AUeghenies and Adirondacks, Italy, Indiaand elsewhere in the Far East, but nowhere have I en-countered or enjoyed such upright mountains, nor suchdownright peculiar mountains, as those of southwesternArizona. If you have not yet seen them to fine advantage,quietly, and continuously for days, as becometh the needsof a lover of natural scenery, then may you live and enjoylife until you have done so. The mountains alongside our trip, excepting one rangein Mexico south-east of Sonoyta,.called Cobabi,were ratherlow, none of them running up as high as 4,000 feet. Butwhat of that ? Give a two-thousand-foot mountain asteep face, and a serrated top, and like a climbing woman. IMPRESSIONS OF AN ARBOREAL DESERT 39 with a small income, it can put up quite an imposing out-side appearance. None of the mountains between theSanta Catalinas, Sonoyta and Gila Bend were high enoughto bear pines, or any species of coniferous trees. Theywere all of them builded of gray granite, and their steepsides were mostly as barren of trees as the side of a factorychimney. The fourth feature that impresses a first-impressionistloose in the deserts is the arroyo. Now, in that region,the arroyo is not merely a plain and simple product ofnature. It is an institution. Its variety is great and itsuses many. As a resource for water it is generally a de-lusion and a snare; although there are times when ityields the precious fluid that is as necessary to the travelleras his own hearts blood. The trouble is that the waterthat collects in an arroyo during a downpour of rain isquickly absorbed by the thirsty sands of the bed of the average arr
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