e of direction.

The occasional springs which furnish scanty water supply to the
inhabitants of this region are found generally at great distances apart,
and there are usually but few natural indications of their location.
They often occur in obscure nooks in the canyons, reached by tortuous
trails winding through the talus and foothills, or as small seeps at the
foot of some mesa. The convergence of numerous Navajo trails, however,
furnishes some guide to these rare water sources.

[Illustration: Plate XVI. Plan of Hano.]

The series of promontories upon which the Tusayan villages are built are
exceptionally rich in these seeps and springs. 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 pinon 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.

Occasionally grassy levels are seen that for a few weeks in early summer
are richly carpeted with multitudes of delicate wild flowers. The beauty
of these patches of gleaming color is enhanced by contrast with the
forbidding and rugged character of the surroundings; but