68 IN THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 



An artist in Colorado Springs, who has given 

 her heart, almost her life, to fixing in imperish- 

 able color the floral wealth about her, has 

 painted over three hundred varieties of Colo- 

 rado wild-flowers, and her list is still incomplete. 



It is not pleasant to mar this record of beauty, 

 but one thing must be mentioned. The lux- 

 uriance of the flowers is already greatly dimin- 

 ished by the unscrupulousness of the tourists 

 who swarm in the flower season, especially, I am 

 sorry to say, women. Not content with filling 

 their hands with flowers, they fill their arms and 

 even their carriage, if they have one. More- 

 over, the hold of the plant on the light, sandy 

 soil is very slight ; and the careless gatherer, not 

 provided with knife or scissors, will almost inva- 

 riably pull the root with the flower, thus totally 

 annihilating that plant. When one witnesses 

 such greediness, and remembers that these van- 

 dals are in general on the wing, and cannot stay 

 to enjoy what they have rifled, but will leave it 

 all to be thrown out by hotel servants the next 

 morning, he cannot wonder at the indignation 

 of the residents toward the traveler, nor that 

 " No admittance " notices are put up, and big 

 dogs kept, and that " tourist " is a name synon- 

 ymous with " plunderer," and bitterly hated by 

 the people. 



I have seen a party of ladies to judge by 



