Old Mexico and her lost provinces; a journey in Mexico, southern California, and Arizona, by way of Cuba . aic law. Inside itconsists of a white, juicy pulp, imbedding a bundle offibres in the form of long wands, which, when dried,serve a number of useful purposes. It has a palatablefruit, which the Indians collect from its top in Augustwith forked sticks. The ocotilla is simply a shrub growing as a wattle ofsticks, fifteen or twenty together, only waiting to be cutdown and turned into palings. The bisnaga is a thornycactus like an immense watermelon o^rowins^ on end. One CAMP LOWELL, TUCSON,
Old Mexico and her lost provinces; a journey in Mexico, southern California, and Arizona, by way of Cuba . aic law. Inside itconsists of a white, juicy pulp, imbedding a bundle offibres in the form of long wands, which, when dried,serve a number of useful purposes. It has a palatablefruit, which the Indians collect from its top in Augustwith forked sticks. The ocotilla is simply a shrub growing as a wattle ofsticks, fifteen or twenty together, only waiting to be cutdown and turned into palings. The bisnaga is a thornycactus like an immense watermelon o^rowins^ on end. One CAMP LOWELL, TUCSON, ETC. 501 need never die of tliirst wliere it is cholla is a mass of spines, whicli are evenbarbed, on the fish-hook principle. It is consid-ered funnj to hear of somebodys falling into acholla, and nothing could better represent thetraditional bramble-bnsh in which theman who was so w^ondrous wise met withthe famous adventure of scratching outhis eyes. The deer-brush somewhat:esembles the horns of the animal. Thepalo verde—green stick—grows as largeas an apple-tree, with the texture of a. CACTCS GROWTHS OF THE DESERT. 502 OLD MEXICO AND HER LOST PROVINCES. mammoth sea-weed. The grease-wood is a large busli,said, to burn just as well when green as drj. Most ofthis vegetation is leafless, or rather the plant seems aleaf itself, since coarse bark is lacking, and the green ofchlorophyll and the tenderness of structure seem equallydistributed throughout. There are homely legends and superstitions about theseplants of the desert. A certain one, for instance, poisonsany white spot on a horse, but not one of any othercolor. Another, eaten by horses, makes them lazy andimbecile. The loco, or rattle-weed, on the other hand,drives them raving crazy, and they try to run them-selves to death. I do not know whether this last bewholly a superstition, for I rode in California a horsewhose eccentric proceedings could hardly be accountedfor on any other basis. Tucson, from a distan
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectmexicod, bookyear1883
