Rocky Mountains. 77 



From the brow of the perpendicular precipice, an ascend- 

 ing slope of a few rods conducted us, through scattering 

 groves of junipers, to the border of the open plain. Here, 

 the interminable expanse of the grassy desert burst suddenly 

 upon our view. Instead of a narrow crooked avenue, hedg- 

 ed in by impending cliffs and frightful precipices, a bound- 

 less and varied landscape lay spread before us. The broad 

 valley of the Arkansa, studded with little groves of timber, 

 and terminated, in the back ground, by the snowy summit of 

 James' Peak, lay in our rear. The Spanish Peaks and nu- 

 merous spurs of the Rocky Mountains, with the shining pin- 

 nacles of the more distant ranges, limited our view on the 

 right. On our left and before us, lay the extended plain 

 diversified with vast conic mounds, and insular table-like 

 hills, while herds of bisons, antelopes, and wild horses, gave 

 life and cheerfulness to the scene.* 



After travelling one and a half miles, into the plain, on a 

 due south course, we halted to take the bearing of several 

 remarkable points, l^ue east, was a solitary and almost 

 naked pile of rocks, towering to a very considerable eleva- 

 tion above the surface of the plain. James' Peak bore north 

 71° west; the west Spanish Peak south, 87? west; magnetic 

 variation, IS^" east. As we proceeded, we were surprised 

 to witness an aspect of unwonted verdure and freshness, in 

 the grasses and other plants of the plain, and in searching 

 for the cause of this change, discovered we had arrived 

 at a region differing, both in point of soil and geological fea- 

 tures, from any portion of the country we had before seen. 

 Several circumstances had induced us to conjecture that 



* A large undescribed species of Gaura is common about the banks of 

 all the creeks we had seen since leaving- the Arkansa. It attains, ordina- 

 rily, the size of G. biennis, but is clearly distinct both from that and all 

 other North American species. It has a broader leaf than any other spe- 

 cies of the genus met with in this country. The flowers'are small, of a 

 purple colour, and incline to form a terminal spike. The whole plant is 

 covered with a dense silky pubescence, and is remarkably soft to the touch. 

 We propose to call it Gaura mollis. 



