d these may be made amenable to the ordinary processes of
agriculture. On these the herdsman may raise the grain and vegetables
necessary for his own consumption. But the vast area of the region seems
inevitably set apart for the one sole business of cattle-raising, and
all the way-freight trains which pass us here are laden with beeves for
the St. Louis market, or dairy-produce for all the markets of the world.
We have never tasted _grama_-cheese, but have a theory that its
individual piquancy must equal that of the delicious _Schabzieger_.

Far off on the gray level we shall still see the antelope. His tribe is
coextensive with three-fourths of the continent. No sterility
discourages him. He seems as thrifty on the wiry _grama_ as among the
most succulent grasses of the Republican. The sneaking coyote and a
number of larger wolves put in an occasional appearance. Birds of the
hawk and raven families are common. The waters swarm with numerous
varieties of duck. It surprises us at this utmost distance from the
maritime border to see flocks of Arctic gulls circling around the low
sand-hills, and sickle-bill curlews wheeling high in air above their
broods. Before we get far into this region we shall notice that one of
its most typical features is the alkali-pool. Every few miles we come to
a shallow basin of stagnant water saturated with salts of soda and
potash. Still another characteristic of the Plains is their tremendous
rainless thunder-storms. If we are fortunate enough to encounter one of
these, we shall witness in one hour more atmospheric perturbation than
has occurred within our whole previous experience on the Atlantic slope.
The lightning for half a night will light the sky with an almost
continuous glare, brighter than noonday; all the parks of artillery on
earth could not make such a constant deafening roar as those iron clouds
in the heaven; and though the wind will not be able to blow the train
backward, as we have seen it treat a four-mule stage, it will be likely
to do its next best thing, heaping sand on the track till the engine has
to slow and send men ahead with shovels.

Entering the Denver depot, we shall find a busy scene. All that immense
freight-business between the Missouri and the Colorado mining-towns,
which formerly strung the overland road with wagons drawn by six yoke
of oxen each, has now been transferred to the railroad. The switches are
crowded with cars getting unloaded, or waiting the