58 THE CAROLINA MOUNTAINS 
slopes of the Grandfather Mountain, those southern 
slopes sweeping down and down into the foothills 
of the John's River Valley. One of the finest roads 
in the mountains crosses this southern front of the 
Grandfather, winding through the forest and over 
the open places, keeping for many miles an elevation 
of about four thousand feet. It is in every sense a 
high place. The air is clean and cool and fragrant; 
in the distant spaces lie fair valleys and noble moun- 
tains, while close about you the mountain rose-bay 
enchantingly colors the earth. The effect of these 
masses of bloom on the grassy slopes against the 
blue sky is lovely. 
The color of these flowers varies a good deal, all 
the way from rich purple-red to a clear, sweet rose- 
color. Some people condemn the flowers as "ma- 
genta," seeing only that among all the colors they 
assume. But there are occasions when even this 
despised color can ravish the senses. Up near the 
top of the Grandfather Mountain, for instance, one 
should see the purple rose-bay against the blue- 
gray rocks in the quivering blue atmosphere of a 
summer day to find out how glorious a thing a ma- 
genta flower in its right setting can be. 
As the mountain rose-bay passes, the great wax- 
like flowers of the Rhododendron maximum come 
forth out of the heavy bud clusters. The Rhodo- 
dendron maximum generally grows in ravines or 
along damp slopes, where it makes jungles of trop- 
ical luxuriance. Its large flowers, which are usually 
white or a delicate peachy pink, grow in clusters 
