e balsams, which crown the mountain. As soon as we came
out upon the southern slope we found great open spaces, covered with
succulent grass, and giving excellent pasturage to cattle. These rich
mountain meadows are found on all the heights of this region. The
surface of Roan is uneven, and has no one culminating peak that commands
the country, like the peak of Mount Washington, but several eminences
within its range of probably a mile and a half, where various views can
be had. Near the highest point, sheltered from the north by balsams,
stands a house of entertainment, with a detached cottage, looking
across the great valley to the Black Mountain range. The surface of the
mountain is pebbly, but few rocks crop out; no ledges of any size are
seen except at a distance from the hotel, on the north side, and the
mountain consequently lacks that savage, unsubduable aspect which
the White Hills of New Hampshire have. It would, in fact, have been
difficult to realize that we were over six thousand feet above the sea,
except for that pallor in the sunlight, that atmospheric thinness and
want of color which is an unpleasant characteristic of high altitudes.
To be sure, there is a certain brilliancy in the high air,--it is apt to
be foggy on Roan,--and objects appear in sharp outline, but I have often
experienced on such places that feeling of melancholy, which would,
of course, deepen upon us all if we were sensible that the sun was
gradually withdrawing its power of warmth and light. The black balsam is
neither a cheerful nor a picturesque tree; the frequent rains and mists
on Roan keep the grass and mosses green, but the ground damp. Doubtless
a high mountain covered with vegetation has its compensation, but for me
the naked granite rocks in sun and shower are more cheerful.

The advantage of Roan is that one can live there and be occupied for a
long time in mineral and botanical study. Its mild climate, moisture,
and great elevation make it unique in this country for the botanist. The
variety of plants assembled there is very large, and there are many, we
were told, never or rarely found elsewhere in the United States. At any
rate, the botanists rave about Roan Mountain, and spend weeks at a time
on it. We found there ladies who could draw for us Grey's lily (then
passed), and had kept specimens of the rhododendron (not growing
elsewhere in this region) which has a deep red, almost purple color.

The hotel (since replaced b