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Jan. 28-29,

In coming from Langtry to Del Rio we were in the night but had a good moon. It is a very rough country. 
The R.R. runs near the river most of the way & sometimes you can look down 200 feet straight below you to the river & again as high to cliffs over your head. There are 2 long tunnels. Painted Caves is the nicest place on the route. The cliffs are grand, the top looked as far away as the stars. The cañon is brushy & would be splendid for collecting. There were several good sized houses & someone had a fire in one of the caves.

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There is a sandy flat along the river most of the way down in the cañon, some times on one side & again on the other. This is covered with brush & trees & plants. All are green & flowers are in blossom down there & birds are numerous.
There are lots of coon tracks & Skunk tracks along the river. It would be a good place to collect, only I do not want to make but one more stop & want to make that where the fauna is characteristic of the flat country south of the cañon. This I will not find until I get farther down & from all I can learn Del Rio seems to me the best point. The country above the cañon here is bare & stony & dry. Some kind of Perognathus seems to be common here. A Black Bear & Bald Eagle are kept at a saloon as pets. Panthers are said to be numerous over on the Pecos R.
Hunted most of the day, killed some birds, took notes, & collected some plants, mostly trees in the canon. Cedars & oaks & Mesquite are common in cañon, also the Resurection plant on rocks.
The limestone is full of fossils. Went into some caves but found nothing.
A very warm day. Got some shells like those I found in Sonora, Mex.