240 



THE ARCTIC PRAIRIES 



sands of lakelets, millions of ponds that are marvel- 

 lously blue, clear, and lifeless. 



But a new force is born on the scene; it attacks not 

 this hill or rock, or that loose stone, but on every point 

 of every stone and rock in the vast domain, it appears 

 the lowest form of lichen, a mere stain of gray. 

 This spreads and by its own corrosive power eats foot- 

 hold on the granite; it fructifies in little black velvet 



Bugle moss 



Lichens 



Cetraria 



spots. Then one of lilac flecks the pink tones of the 

 granite, to help the effect. Soon another kind follows 

 a pale olive-green lichen that fruits in bumps of rich 

 brown velvet; then another branching like a tiny tree 

 there is a ghostly kind like white chalk rubbed lightly 

 on, and yet another of small green blots, and one like 

 a sprinkling of scarlet snow; each, in turn, of a higher 

 and larger type, which in due time prepares the way 

 for mosses higher still. 



In the less exposed places these come forth, seeking 

 the shade, searching for moisture, they form like small 

 sponges on a coral reef; but growing, spread and change 

 to meet the changing contours of the land they win, 

 and with every victory or upward move, adopt some 

 new refined intensive tint that is the outward and 

 visible sign of their diverse inner excellences and their 

 triumph. Ever evolving they spread, until there are 



