About the base of the
"First Mesa" (Fig. 1), within a distance of 4 or 5 miles from the
villages located upon it, there are at least five places where water can
be obtained. One of these is a mere surface reservoir, but the others
appear to be permanent springs. The quantity of water, however, is so
small that it produces no impression on the arid and sterile effect of
the surroundings, except in its immediate vicinity. Here small patches
of green, standing out in strong relief against their sandy
back-grounds, mark the position of clusters of low, stunted peach trees
that have obtained a foothold on the steep sand dunes.
[Illustration: Fig. 1. View of the First Mesa.]
In the open plains surrounding the mesa rim (6,000 feet above the sea),
are seen broad stretches of dusty sage brush and prickly greasewood.
Where the plain rises toward the base of the mesa a scattered growth of
scrub cedar and pi?on begins to appear. But little of this latter growth
is seen in the immediate vicinity of the villages; it is, however, the
characteristic vegetation of the mesas, while, in still higher
altitudes, toward the San Juan, open forests of timber are met with.
This latter country seems scarcely to have come within the ancient
builder's province; possibly on account of its coldness in winter and
for the reason that it is open to the incursions of warlike hunting
tribes. Sage brush and greasewood grow abundantly near the villages, and
these curious gnarled and twisted shrubs furnish the principal fuel of
the Tusayan.
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