Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 6.djvu/190

162 are interesting for the almost unexampled displacement of the  of which they are composed, and the apparent confusion which has thence arisen. Among the most remarkable of its separate summits are Italian Mountain, 13,431 in height, so called because it displays the red, white, and green of the  national colours; Whiterock Mountain, 13,847 ; Teocalli Mountain, 13,274; Crested Butte, 12,014; Gothic Mountain, 12,491; Snow Mass, 13,961; Maroon Mountain, 14,000; Castlepeak, 14,106; Capitol, 13,992, and Sopris Peak, 12,972. Of less importance, but still distinct and well defined, are the in the south-east, the  in the south, and the  in the south-west. The eastern series of elevations which abut on the region of the are known as the, and present a fine bold outline, broken by several peaks of about 14,000  or upwards in height. One of the most remarkable features of the of Colorado is the unusual development of its upland s, or &ldquo;parks,&rdquo; to use the term that has become distinctively their own. The four most extensive are known respectively as the, the , the , and the ; the last is by far the finest of the four. They stretch almost in a line from the southern to the northern boundary of the State, just on the western side of the Front Range, and occupy an average breadth of 50 s. The is, as it were, an &ldquo;immense elliptical &rdquo; with an area of 9400 square s, bounded on the E. by the  and the  range, and on the W. by the, which is part of the great. Its surface is nearly as flat as a, and it almost certainly was at one time the of a great inland. The centre of the northern part, which bears the distinctive title of the Rincon, is still occupied by a considerable sheet of, fed by nineteen s, and accustomed in the  to overflow a large stretch of the neighbouring. The southern part, which continues onwards into, is traversed by the and several of its.

.&mdash;Of the s of the, the most important are the, the , and the ; those of the are all members of the great. The has its head waters in, and its earlier  flow from the slopes of the northern part of the. At its source at it has a height above the  of 11,176 ; at its exit from the upper  it is still 7623, but by the time it reaches  it is only 5176. The rises in the same district, at a height of 10,176 above the, in Tennessee Pass, but as it leaves  has come down to 7877. In the upper part of its course it passes through a from 1000 to 1500 feet in depth. The has its head waters in the  range and the  range, and flows south through the valley. The belongs to the territory only by some of its most important, of which it is sufficient to mention the , and the  and , which unite before they pass into the  of. The numerous minor &ldquo;s&rdquo; which feed the main s must not be forgotten in forming an idea of the main features of the country.

.&mdash;Colorado is pre-eminently a district, and to this fact it owes its. It possesses extensive deposits of and, and between the s 1859 and 1872 it furnished to the   upwards of 20,000,000 worth of  and 1,114,542 of. is pretty widely diffused, and and  occur in many of the. is also found extensively on both sides of the main range of mountains; the area occupied by the deposits being no less than 7200 square s, and the annual yield about 200,000 s. The  districts are five in number, and are distinguished as the district of the northern, the  of the eastern base, the   , the southern , and the  of. At Murphy's, about twelve s from Denver, the is about 16  thick, and the percentage of fixed  is found to be 55·31.

The of Colorado is remarkable for its regularity and salubrity. During the the not unfrequently rises to 90° in, but the s are always cool and less. In the  is generally mild,—the lowest  being only 7° below zero, in  15°, and in  13°. often lies deep in the higher inhabited districts, but in the lowlands it is never more than 10 or 12 es, and it disappears again almost immediately. All through the the  is so  and light that   can be preserved by the simplest process of. Between and  there is very little,  after  bringing a bright and less. &ldquo;An air more delicious to breathe,&rdquo; says Bayard Taylor, &ldquo;cannot anywhere be found; it is neither too nor too exciting, but has that pure, sweet, flexible quality which seems to support all one's happiest and healthiest moods.&rdquo; For tic and  patients it exercises a restorative influence which cannot be disputed; and the State consequently promises to become an extensive  for the eastern districts of. The only flaw in the of Colorado is its violent s of, and in some parts of the country heavy falls of. It would seem, however, that the is on the increase; and whatever be its cause, the change is quite perceptible since the  of the. The undefined, for instance, is said to be ly increasing in volume, and s which formerly dried up in the now maintain a continuous flow. Among the secondary advantages of which Colorado can boast, the  hold an important place. They occur in various parts of the country, and belong to different classes. s are found at, , and ; s at , , and ;  s at , on the , and at ; and , partly  and partly , exist at , in the , in , at , and at. is already becoming a fashionable ; the s and the surrounding land were purchased by a in 1870; and in 1873 there were already six large s and numerous private residences erected round the spot. In the lowland districts for drinking is very scarce; but supplies can frequently be obtained by the sinking of.

.&mdash;The of Colorado were, till a comparatively recent date, richly clothed with ; but owing partly to  causes, and still more to the lavish consumption and reckless destruction of the early settlers, the quantity of growing  in the State is exceedingly small, and before long, if restorative measures are not adopted, the Colorado demand for  will require to be supplied from without. Whole sides often present the appearance of monstrous cheavaux-de-frise, the dead s of the -thrown s being tossed about in all directions. The principal, after the , are the so-called and , the , and the  (or Populus tremuloides). The minor of the country is exceedingly rich; and especially in the 