Page:"Round the world." - Letters from Japan, China, India, and Egypt (IA roundworldletter00fogg 0).pdf/25

 these is a continuous line of snow-capped summits, come clear and distinct in lines, as if cut from marble, others partly obscured by clouds and mist. The mountain air at this elevation is remarkably clear, and objects can be discerned at a great distance. It is hard to believe that Pike’s Peak is over seventy miles away, and the nearest summit of the Rocky Mountain range fully fifty miles distant.

Denver is a quiet, well-built city of seven thousand inhabitants. Brick blocks have taken the place of board and canvas shanties; a good city government, enforcing law and order, has replaced the vigilance committees that found it necessary a few years ago to hang the cut-threats and desperadoes who infested the place. The mineral wealth of Colorado is almost boundless, and all she needs now is the discovery of some simple and cheap process by which her ores can be desulphurized.

From Denver to Cheyenne the road runs due north over a smooth plain, with the “Rockys” in plain sight on our left. We watch with interest the herds of antelope almost within rifle range of the cars, while the fat little prairie dogs attracted by the bright warm sun can be seen in thousands as they sit barking at the passing train within a few yards of the track. Each one is squatted on the little mound of earth thrown up from his hole, and they neem to wink at us with a comical self-satisfied air, as much as to say, “We know you are in too much of a hurry to trouble us;” but if the train stops they dodge into their holes as quick as a flash. They are not, in fact, “dogs” at all, but a species of rabbit, light brown in color and but little larger than grey squirrels. They frequently share their holes with rattlesnakes and owls, and all fraternize like Barnum’s happy family. Their great enemy is the prowling cayote, the cowardly wolf of the plains, whose teeth are against every animal smaller and weaker than himself. One of the most savory dishes yesterday morning at the eating station was called a “rabbit stew,” of which we all partook freely. Before leaving the table it occurred to me to enquire of the colored waiter whether rabbits were plenty in that region. His reply was rather startling“Oh yes, masa, de prairie dogs is nice and fat just now.”

Half way from DanverDenver [sic] to Cheyenne we stop for a few minutes at the new town of Greeley, containing 1,500 people, and only