222 



NATURE FOB ITS OWN SAKE 



heights are forever looking down. If they 

 would only look up they might see two features 

 that are the better for being seen from high 

 gronnd. I mean the sky and the clouds. The 

 whole firmament seems to expand ; and the 

 curve down and around the world, given by 

 the perspective of the clouds, is most impres- 

 sive in its sweep. And what intensity of 

 color in the violet-blue ! What wonderful 

 luminosity in the small, white cumulus and the 

 feathery cirrus clouds ! But this sky view is 

 the one that people seldom see. They climb 

 for the scenic view, which means a search for 

 familiar objects on the map below them. In 

 fact, it is more curiosity than a sense of beauty 

 that prompts the climbing ; for the most per- 

 fect landscape is seen from level ground, with 

 the great sky space overhead as a leading 

 feature. 



The mountains themselves are seen at their 

 best looking up from the valley. The view 

 expanding, peak on peak, until finally the top- 

 most spine is reached, is more complete than 

 when one stands on the top and looks over 

 snow-fields, down gorges and glaciers into the 

 valley. The very grandeur of mountains lies 

 in their height, mass, strength, and sky lines, 



