SYLVAN SCENERY. 
133 
It is difficult to say precisely wherein the charm of the sylvan scenery 
of the Kaibah consists. We, who through successive summers have wan- 
dered through its forests and parks, have come to regard it as the most en- 
chanting region it has ever been our privilege to visit. Surely there is no 
lack of beautiful or grand forest scenery in America, and it is a matter of 
taste what species of trees are the most pleasing. Probably few people 
would select the conifers and poplars as the highest types of arboreal beauty. 
I suspect that the charm consists in influences far more subtle thau these 
outward forms. The delicious climate, neither cold nor hot, neither wet 
nor excessively dry, but always exhilarating, is a fundamental condition by 
virtue of which the body and mind are brought into the most susceptible 
mood. The ease with which we move from place to place, the absence of 
all anxiety or care for the three great requisites of camp life — fuel, water, 
and grass — are accessory conditions. The contrast of the desert, with its 
fatigue, its numberless discomforts and privations, is still another. But the 
scenery is also very beautiful in itself The trees are large and noble in 
aspect and stand widely apart, except in the highest parts of the plateau, 
where the spruces predominate. Instead of dense thickets, where we are 
shut in by impenetrable foliage, we can look far beyond and see the tree 
trunks vanishing away like an infinite colonnade. The ground is unob- 
structed and inviting. There is a constant succession of parks and glades — 
dreamy avenues of grass and flowers winding between sylvan walls, or 
spreading out in broad open meadows. From June until September there 
is a display of wild flowers which is quite beyond description. The valley 
sides and platforms above are resplendent with dense masses of scarlet, 
white, purple, and yellow. It is noteworthy that, while the trees exhibit 
but few species, the humbler plants present a very great number, both of 
species and genera. In the upper regions of the High Plateaus, Mr. Lester 
F. Ward collected in a single season more than 600 species of plants, and 
the Kaibab, though offering a much smaller range of altitude and climate, 
would doubtless yield as rich a flora in proportion to the diversity of its 
conditions. 
At a distance of about eight miles from its mouth, the ravine we have 
chosen has become very shallow, with gently sloping sides. At length we 
