Page:Rocky Mountain life.djvu/212

 though probably not a fair test, it will afford the reader some idea of its mineral properties:

Carbonate of lime - - - 92,25

Carbonate of magnesia - 1,21

Sulphate of lime

Chloride of calcium - - -

Chloride of magnesia ,23

Silica - - 1,50

Vegetable matter – ,26

Moisture end loss.. - - 4,61

100,00

This valley opens eastward, and is walled in upon the right and left, at the mountains' base, by a stretch of high table land, surmounted by oaks and stately pines, with now and then an interval displaying a luxuriant coating of grass. The soil is a reddish loam, and very rich. The trees which skirt the creek as it traces its way from the fountain are generally free from under-brush, and show almost as much regularity of position as if planted by the hand of art. A lusty growth of vegetation is sustained among them to their very trunks, which is garnished by wild flowers, that, during the summer months, invest the whole scene with an enchantment peculiar to itself.

The climate too is far milder in this than in adjoining regions, even of a more southern latitude. 'Tis here "summer first unfolds her robes, and here the longest tarries." The grass, continuing green the entire winter, here first feels the genial touch of spring. Snow seldom remains upon the ground to exceed a single day, even in the severest weather, while the neighboring hills and prairies present their white mantlings for weeks in succession.

As the creek emerges from the mountains, it increases in size by the accession of several tributaries, and the valley also expands to a width of three