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Show VALLEY OF THE EIO VIRGIN. 221 flowering shrub, growing to the height of fifteen feet, exhaling delightful perfume, abounds along the road. Pines and cedars start out from among the rocks, on the sides of the pass, towering one above the other, like Ossa upon Pelion. I have travelled through the beautiful passes in the Rocky and Warsatch Mountains, but I have seen nothing that could excel this, either for the facilities of a railroad, which could be constructed through it without grading, or for the magnificence of the combinations which are requisite to produce effect in a grand landscape. This pass is about six miles through. Suddenly, as you are about to emerge from this pass, through the opening of the mountains, I beheld the valley of the Rio Virgin at sunset, bursting upon me in all the glory and sublimity of a perfect picture. The view in the distance is unbroken for many miles; generally the scene is blocked in by mountains at short distances. • We descended gently into an extensive valley, sterile to a degree, which seemed to be peculiarly adapted to the growth of a species of palm, called in the West Indies the Spanish needle; this and a dwarf species of artemisia, was the only vegetation visible. The soil is sandy, and embroidered as it were, artificially, with parterres of small pebble stones, arranged with amazing regularity, for many miles, over which our wagons rattled, and bounced amusingly enough to those, who preferred a ride on horseback, to a seat in them. At eight o'clock in the evening, we camped on the banks of the Rio Virgin, the waters of which were also very high. I expect great difficulty in crossing with the wagons tomorrow. Thermometer at noon 90.° 25th.-We left camp this morning, at half-past seven |
