My First Summer 



comes more and more visible the farther 

 and higher we go ; for the mountains are 

 fountains --beginning places, however re- 

 lated to sources beyond mortal ken. 



I found three kinds of meadows : 

 (i) Those contained in basins not yet filled 

 with earth enough to make a dry surface. 

 They are planted with several species of 

 carex, and have their margins diversified 

 with robust flowering plants such as vera- 

 trum, larkspur, lupine, etc. (2) Those con- 

 tained in the same sort of basins, once lakes 

 like the first, but so situated in relation to 

 the streams that flow through them and 

 beds of transportable sand, gravel, etc., that 

 they are now high and dry and well drained. 

 This dry condition and corresponding dif- 

 ference in their vegetation may be caused 

 by no superiority of position, or power of 

 transporting filling material in the streams 

 that belong to them, but simply by the 

 basin being shallow and therefore sooner 

 filled. They are planted with grasses, mostly 



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