Rocky Mountains. 79 



to Pike's " Journal of a voyage to the sources of the Ar- 

 kansa," it will be seen that this peak is the most prominent 

 and conspicuous feature in a great extent of the surrounding 

 country, " It is indeed so remarkable as to be known to all 

 the savage nations for hundreds of miles around, and to be 

 spoken of, with admiration, by the Spaniards of New Mexico, 

 and was the bounds of their ti-avels northwest. Indeed, in 

 our wanderings in the mountains, it was never out of sight, 

 except when in a valley, from the 14th November to the 27th 

 January." See page 171. 



Notwithstanding this representation, and that the peak in 

 question was seen by ourselves, at the distance of one hun- 

 dred and thirty miles, we are inclined to think, that, in point 

 of elevation, it falls far below many portions of the interior 

 ridges of the mountains, which are visible from its summit, 

 and from the plains of the Platte, and that it is, by standing 

 a little detached from the principal group of the mountains, 

 it acquires a great portion of the imposing grandeur of its 

 appearance. 



We passed, in the morning, some tracts of gray sandstone, 

 having, however, met with several inconsiderable conic hills, 

 belonging to that interesting formation, called by Werner 

 the Floetz Trap rocks. We perceived before us a striking 

 change in the aspect and conformation of the surface; in- 

 stead of the wearisome uniformity, the low and pointless 

 ridges, which mark the long tract of horizontal sandstone 

 we had passed, we had now the prospect of a country vari- 

 ed by numerous continued ranges of lofty hills, interspersed 

 with insulated cone-like piles, and irregular masses of every 

 variety of magnitude and position. This scenery is not to 

 be compared, in point of grandeur, with the naked and tow- 

 ering majesty of the great chain of the Andes, which we had 

 lately left, but, in its kind, it is of uncommon beauty. The 

 hills, though often abrupt and high, are sometimes smooth 

 and grassy to their summits, having a surface unbroken by a 



