ong them, and dangers not a few before he
can descend their western slopes. At length he finds himself amid
masses of dark brown rocks, not a patch of green appearing; mountain
heights rising westward, one beyond the other; and far-away, where he
might suppose the plains were again to be found, still there rises
before him a region of everlasting snow. For many days he may go on,
now climbing, now descending, now flanking piles of rocks, and yet not
till fully six days are passed is he able to say that he has crossed
that mountain range. Indeed, the term "range" scarcely describes the
system of the Rocky Mountains. It is, in fact, a chain, composed of
numerous links, with vast plains rising amid them.

PARKS.

These ranges in several places thin out, as it were, leaving a large
tract of level country completely embosomed in snowy ridges in the very
heart of the system. These plains are known as "parks." They are found
throughout the range. Several of them are of vast extent,--the four
principal ones forming the series called, in their order, "North,"
"Middle", "South," and "Saint Louis" Parks. Portions of them,
thoroughly irrigated, remain beautifully green throughout the year, and
herbage over the whole region is abundant. Sheltered from the blasts to
which the lower plains are exposed, these parks enjoy an equable
climate; and old hunters, who have camped in them for many seasons,
describe life there as an earthly paradise. They abound in animals of
all sorts. Elk, deer, and antelope feed on their rich grasses. Hither
also the puma follows its prey, and there are several other creatures of
the feline tribe. Bears, wolves, and foxes likewise range across them.
In some of them herds of buffalo pass their lives; for, unlike their
brethren of the plain, they are not migratory. It is doubtful whether
or not they are of the same species, but they are said to be larger and
fiercer.

The appropriate designation of the Rocky Mountain-system is that of a
chain. On crossing one of its basins or plateaux, the traveller finds
himself within a link such as has just been described. A break in one
of these links is called a "pass," or "canon." As he passes through
this break he enters another link, belonging to another parallel either
of a higher or lower series. In some of the minor plateaux between the
snowy ridges no vegetation appears. Granite and sandstone rocks outcrop
even in the general sandy level, risi