CHAP. I. 



GRASSY MOUNTAINS. 



Hitherto, while the grand elevations by which our 

 surface is so much diversified, formed the subject of my 

 inquiries ; I considered mountains merely in a geological 

 point of view, and hazarded my conjectures upon the ope- 

 rations of nature, by which they had acquired their present 

 forms. 



I shall now cease to look back to original formation ; but, 

 taking a prospective view of the subject, I shall inquire — 

 How these widely-extended tracts can be made more useful 

 to man, and more productive to his domestic animals ; — 

 whether the scanty food these wilds now afford to them at 

 the best season, can be increased \ — whether these same 

 mountains can produce, in themselves, storeable provisions 

 to sustain their four-footed inhabitants in winter, while the 

 powers of Nature seem torpid, and vegetation completely 

 at a stand in these dreary regions. 



It is here natural to ask — Have I discovered or im- 

 ported any new vegetables, which yield greater produce in 

 bleak elevations than their native plants are able to do? 

 Have I discovered any new culture by which the plants 

 we foster will be thrown into greater luxuriance, than 

 under those we have hitherto adopted I No. — I shall avail 

 myself of no other plants (that is, grasses) than those with 



