File:Campfires on desert and lava (1908) (14586569278).jpg

Identifier: campfiresondeser00horn (find matches)
Title: Campfires on desert and lava
Year: 1908 (1900s)
Authors: Hornaday, William T. (William Temple), 1854-1937
Subjects:
Publisher: New York, C. Scribner's sons
Contributing Library: The Library of Congress
Digitizing Sponsor: The Library of Congress

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the time of our entry contained no algae.Later on, however, the level of the Horse Pool loweredconsiderably and a mass of green algae formed over halfof its surface. All these pools contained many specimensof a small species of crustacean, belonging to the genusA pus. They were only an inch in length, rather soft forcrustaceans, and in colour dull, lustreless gray. We alsofound specimens of a cosmopolitan species of water-beetle,—Eretes sttcticus,—that is found all the way fromJapan across country to Peru. The only other life inthe tanks consisted of larvae of the dragon-fly, gorgeouslycoloured purple, scarlet, yellow and green. These werequite abundant. It is to be remembered that we found this abundanceof good water in the Papago Tanks at the end of an unusu-ally wet rainy season. Travellers who visit them in adry year, or in spring or summer, are liable to find themtotally dry; in which case the result may easily becomevery serious. If the pools are dry, the nearest water will
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PAPAGO TANKS AND THE LAVA FIELDS i8i be in the Represa Tank, twenty-five miles away in an airline on the Camino del Diablo, or, worse still, in theSonoyta River—goodness knows how far away—fifty orsixty long, hot miles. Therefore do I say to those whomay come after us—do not rashly attempt to negotiate thePapago Tanks without knowing precisely how you aregoing to save your bacon* in the event that you findthem dry. The lower environs of the Papago Tanks are in realityan oasis—small, but of paramount value. The lowerpool marks the upper end of an arroyo, or barranca, ofgreat importance to this region, for its vegetation furnishesan abundance of shade, grass and fire-wood. The stream-bed of loose sand varies in width from one hundred feet totwo hundred, and the little ribbon of level valley throughwhich it runs is a perfect jungle of big mesquite and paloverde trees, ironwood, desert willows and smaller things.There was an abundance of galleta grass for our horses,without which

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