138 



ALPINE FLOWERS 



[PART I. 



ness of arid rock and hopelessness of barren soil, are seen no 

 more, but near at hand a giant Pine rushes up like a huge 

 mast, while all around and in the distance are great Pines 



grouped in stately armies, fill- 

 ing the valleys and cresting 

 all the wave -like hills, till 

 these are lost in the distant 

 blue. 



To the western slopes of the 

 great chain of the Sierras one 

 ^ must go to see the noblest trees 



isolated Rocks in Rocky Mountains. and the richest verdure. There 

 every one of thousands of mountain gorges, and the pleasant 

 and varied flanks of every vale, and every one of the innumer- 

 able hills, are densely populated with noble Pines and glossy 

 Evergreens, like an ocean of huge land-waves, over which the 

 spirit of tree-life has passed. The autumn days I spent among 

 these trees were among the happiest one could desire every 

 day glorious sunshine, and the breeze as gentle as if it feared to 

 overthrow the dead trees standing here and there leafless, and 

 often perhaps, barkless, but still pointing as proudly to the 

 zenith as their living brothers. Wander away from the little 

 rough dusty roads, crossing, perhaps, a few long and straight 

 banks of grass and loose earth the stems of dead monarchs of 

 the wood now given back to the dust from which they once 

 gathered so much beauty and strength and fancy willingly 

 reminds us of the mast-groves of the Brobdingnags. There is 

 little animal life visible, with the- exception of a variety of 

 squirrels, ranging from the size of a mouse to that of a cat, the 

 graceful Calif ornian quail, and occasionally a hare or a skunk. 

 Everywhere vegetation is supreme, and in some parts finer 

 effects are seen than in the most carefully -planted park. This 

 results not more from the stately Pines (not often crowded 

 together as in the Eastern States, and often near the crest of a 

 knoll, standing so that each tall tree comes out clear against the 

 sky) than from the rich undergrowth of evergreens with larger 

 leaves that form a smaller forest beneath the tall trees. Grand 



