THE CONIFEROUS FOEESTS 



more impressive with distance as the 

 color changes from a continuity of dark 

 green to shades of blue and soft, dis- 

 tant purple. In form and color the 

 trees blend together and seem to move 

 up the dangerous slopes and diflEicult 

 passes in mighty multitudes. 



Contributing to the same impression 

 of grandeur, we have the possibility in 

 these lofty regions of certain glorious 

 effects in sunlight and shade. At sun- 

 rise the first rays flash on the pointed 

 tops of the' uppermost trees, and with 

 the advancing hours descend the dark 

 slopes on their golden errand. Mean- 

 while the western sides lie in shadow. 

 At noon a soft haze spreads through 

 the valleys, and in the twihght hours 

 the intense depth of purple in the dis- 

 tant ranges, where stratus clouds catch 

 121 



