MOUNTAINS AND HILLS 



229 



pine valleys may not be the spots of the earth that 

 one would choose for permanent residence, be- 

 cause the sights they offer are too stupendous 

 for daily contemplation ; but surely they offer 

 the sublimities the grander beauties of the 

 earth and the elements better than almost any 

 other mountainous region. 



A mountain is a mountain, and belongs to an 

 order as human beings to a race, bui there is 

 quite as much of peculiarity in the separate 

 peaks as there is individuality in different men. 

 It does not appear so at first. We think all 

 mountains are substantially alike, just as we 

 think all Mongolians have the same feat- 

 ures ; but a little study shows that there are 

 never any two of them of the same form, color, 

 or characteristics. Even ranges differ greatly 

 in appearance. The Alps are not like the 

 Andes, the Alleghanies are not like the Rock- 

 ies ; and how different are the Harz Moun- 

 tains, with their green slopes and cold blue air, 

 when compared with the bare Tuscan moun- 

 tains, so positive in their light and warmth! 

 Wherein lies the individuality of the isolated 

 mountain it is difficult to say. It may have height 

 and arrowy dignity compared with its squat, 

 smooth, or ragged neighbors ; it may be distin- 



Mountain 

 individual- 

 ity. 



