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EXPLORATIONS IN COLORADO AND UTAII. 25
<br />ain Divide. 311 these streaws are well stocked with trout, their fauna being pre-14
<br />sely like that of the Gunnison.
<br />The lower San Juan enters the desert country and receives large numbers of
<br />"sand arroyos," dry beds flooded with mud after a rain. The water becomes warm,
<br />thick, and yellow, although all the upper sources of the river are clear and coll.
<br />It is thought that the lower San Juan and the Colorado would be well suited for
<br />the growth of the larger cat-tishes as Leptops viiraris, :imciurits nigricans, and .per-
<br />haps Ictalurats punctatus. It would be well to wake a plant of these it Green River
<br />Station, and one on the San Juau at Arboles.
<br />15. Rio de las Animas Perdidas.-The Animas River is the largest tributary of
<br />the San Juan. It rises in the mountains above Silverton. Above its c:tiion of t' Lost f
<br />Souls," it is clear, shallow, and swift, flowing through an open canon with a bottom
<br />of rocks. In its upper course it is said to be without fish, one of its principal tribu-
<br />taries, Mineral Creek, rising in Red _Mountain and Uncompahgre Pass, being highly
<br />charged with salts of iron.
<br />In the sleep and narrow "Canon de las Animas Perdidas" are many very deep
<br />i
<br />pools, said to be full of trout. Below the canon is " Hermosa Park,' in which, for
<br />sore 15 miles, the river flows over sandy bottow, %tith many deer) holes Iailal iiiabt
<br />Ij
<br />current. In these holes are many trout, and with them Puntosteus delphiiaus, dyosia T
<br />yarroici, and Cottns bairdi punctulatits. 1
<br />At Animas Pity, above. Durango, the stream enters a stony wesa, a glacial moraine, i
<br />which, by its slam, has formerly m ide a lake of Hermosa Park. From this point, for J
<br />wiles below, the bottom is so covered with boulders that seining is impossible. At
<br />Durango the river is ? to 3 rods wide and ? to 4 feet deep; in the deeper holes, G to S.
<br />The teniperature is about 680. The stream was seined at various places from !animas
<br />Pity to a point about 5 miles above Durango.
<br />At Durango it is said that the larger suckers (V. cypho, C. la.tipinnis) and the 11 White
<br />s:alnaou" (Ptyehocheilns) ascend the river in the spring, going back to deep water after
<br />Spawning in the sunnier.
<br />16. Leihter'.s Creek, at Durango.-This isa little stream entering the Animas opposite
<br />Durango. In sumner it is 3 to 3 feet wide, shallow, clear, anal ^xarui (72_20) with sandy
<br />h0ttOw. It eont sins Cottns bairdi panchdalus and dyosia yarroici. IIiaber up its
<br />deeper pools are said to contain small trout.
<br />17. Rio Florida.-This is a clear, cold stream, flowing into the Aninias below Du-
<br />r,?neo. It was seined at several points above the bridge about S miles east of Durango
<br />3111 north of Florida Station. It flows through a wooded valley owvr round boulders
<br />:alul with few deep places. Trout are abundant; :also Pantn.`tcus delphbm.s, _tqosita yar-
<br />r'itci, and Cottns bairdi pwictubdus. The last-uawed species lurks under every stone in
<br />the river.
<br />13. La Plata Rircr.-West of the Animas River is the Rio la Plata. It rises in
<br />the mountains :above Fort Lewis, but the water mostly sinks in the sand and gravel
<br />"low the fort. There are ionie trout here, but it is said that the stream contains too
<br />wue,I iron to be well adapted for sash. It was not visited by us.
<br />0. Rio de los Pinox (seen at Ignacio), the nest river east of 111io Florida, is a clear,
<br />+>sift att." ani, with gravelly bottom, 2 roils wide aril 1 to 3 feet deep. It runs through
<br />a broad ca:ley which way becume valuable for agriculture. I aiu told that Patrick
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