REMARKS UPON THE DISTRIBUTION OF ANIMALS AND PLANTS. 585 



elsewhere the swamp or mountain maple formed such a thick growth as 

 to crowd out everything else for a time; but now both these are being- 

 replaced by the fir and the spruce. 



It might seem a very small thing at first that the mountain tops should 

 be bared, the slight growth of vegetation and the peat being consumed 

 by fire; but this peaty soil holds great quantities of moisture deposited 

 from the passing clouds, and of rain that often in summer is poured 

 down in such floods as to cause terrible havoc along the mountain 

 streams. It does not require much foresight to see that, if half of this 

 water is retained on the mountain summits instead of being poured at 

 once into the ravines, not only the freshets would be moderated, but 

 that the water retained would be evaporated from the place where it fell, 

 instead of being carried by the rivers into the sea; and thus there would 

 be a more equal distribution of rain in the vicinity of the mountains, and 

 we should not see in the valleys the dry and parched vegetation which is 

 not only ruinous to the farming interests, but also destroys the natural 

 beauty of the scenery. 



Fig. 69. MT. MADISON, AS SEEN OVER ADAMS RAVINE 



VOL. I. 76 



