180 PAUL C. STAND LEY 



As the railroad first detours into New Mexico it reaches the 

 Toltec Gorge, one of the finest bits of scenery in the state, where 

 the Rio de los Pinos has cut through the mountains a deep pass 

 with precipitous sides, similar to the Brazos Canyon, but prob- 

 ably not so deep and certainly not so long. As the train winds 

 along its summit there is an excellent view of its northward wall, 

 covered with a magnificent growth of Colorado blue spruce. 

 The trees are the finest the writer has ever seen, each of large 

 size, perfectly symmetrical, and with sufficient space to show 

 itself to best advantage. The less steep hillsides above the gorge 

 support a moderately heavy growth of Douglas spruce, white 

 fir, and aspen. 



The railroad soon recrosses the Colorado boundary, and, 

 gradually ascending, reaches Cumbres Pass, the highest point 

 on the line, having an altitude of 10,100 feet. The country 

 east of the pass is very beautiful, consisting of wide, rolling, 

 grassy meadows, flanked by densely forested slopes. Brooks 

 and small lakes or ponds abound in the valleys. One of the 

 lakes near Cumbres is the southernmost station for Nymphaea 

 polysepala. 



Leaving Cumbres the train descends a very steep grade along 

 the valley of the Chama River and soon reaches the town of 

 Chama, which has an elevation of 7800 feet. Several high 

 peaks rise to the northward, but unfortunately they lie in Colo- 

 rado, and the writer has not visited them, being always interested 

 primarily in New Mexican plants. He botanized for ten days 

 about this station in 1911, securing a large number of species 

 that are known from nowhere else in the State. The vegetation 

 in the vicinity of Chama is similar to that of the Brazos Canyon. 

 The wagon road to the latter place follows the Chama Valley 

 for perhaps twelve miles, then turns eastward to the canyon. 

 The valley is broad with gently sloping sides, and toward Tierra 

 Amarilla, the county seat, it is irrigated and apparently very 

 productive. Much of the land is seeded to timothy, a crop that 

 is rarely grown in the Southwest. The valley lies mostly in the 

 lower part of the Transition Zone. It has been overgrazed by 

 sheep with the result that much of the grass and other natural 



