igoo] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 597 



Recollections of Old Collecting Grounds. 



By H. F. Wick HAM, Iowa City, Iowa. 



X.— Breckenridge and Peak Eight. 



From lycadville we started back to Denver, over the South 

 Park Line, which cHnibs out of the Upper Arkansas Valley 

 through Fremont Pass, at an altitude of above ii,ooo feet, 

 after which the descent towards Breckenridge. The ride was 

 wonderfully beautiful. As the train started in the morning 

 the view was unobscured by clouds, and we enjoyed to the 

 full the sight of the great mountain ranges towering on either 

 side. All along the line are little mining towns, some of them 

 seemingly prosperous, others desolate and almost abandoned, 

 with groups of tenantless houses about great empty mills, rep- 

 resenting thousands of dollars of wasted capital. The course 

 of Ten Mile Riv^er is paralleled quite closely until the Valley 

 of the Paine is entered and followed to Breckenridge, a rather 

 small but thriving town in the midst of a famous gold-producing 

 district. 



It is impossible to see out of the Blue River Valley at this 

 point, surrounded as it is by colossal mountain ranges. On one 

 side of the town lies the Ten Mile range, the peaks of which are 

 designated by number instead of by name. Another side is 

 guarded by Mount Hamilton, or "Baldy," as it is locally 

 called, while farther up the stream looms the vast body of 

 Silver Heels. The elevation of the station is about 9500 feet, 

 but the trails are good in the adjacent ranges, and it is not diffi- 

 cult to reach, on foot and without undue exertion, heights of 

 14,000 feet or more. The pine forests come quite down to the 

 railroad tracks, and, though largely burnt by more or less recent 

 fires, add much to the appearance of the scene. Afternoon 

 rains were of daily occurrence during our stay, in the middle 

 of July. 



The Coleoptera indicate essentially a forest fauna. There is 

 not that element of plains species which is so strong at Buena 

 Vista, and which makes itself evident even at lycadville. Thus 

 we found Eleodes abundantly at the former place, and less com- 

 monly at the latter, while at Breckenridge none were seen. This 

 is probably due in great part to the configuration of the country. 



