From this point, comparison with the Union Pacific line in the matter of scenery ceases. As everybody knows, that road crosses the Rocky Mountains proper in a pass so wide and of such gradual ascent that the high summits are quite out of sight. If it were not for the monument to the Ameses, there would be nothing to mark the highest point. For all the wonderful scenery on the Rio Grande road, between Cimarron and Pueblo, the Union Pacific in the same longitudes has nothing to show. From an artistic stand-point, one road has crossed the ranges at the most tame and uninteresting point that could be found, and the other at the most picturesque. At Cimarron, the road again strikes the Gunnison, and plunges into the famous Black Cañon. In length, variety, and certain elements of beauty, such as forest-ravines and waterfalls, this cañon surpasses the Royal Gorge of the Arkansas. There is, however, one spot in the latter (I mean, of course, the point where the turbulent river fills the whole space between walls 2,800 ft. high, and the railroad is hung over it) which is superior in desolate, overwhelming grandeur to anything on the Gunnison. Take them all in all, it is difficult to say which is the finer. I have usually found the opinion of travelers to favor the Gunnison Cañon. But why need the question be solved at all? This one matchless journey comprises them both; and he who was overwhelmed in the morning by the one, holds his breath in the afternoon before the mighty precipices of the other. To excuse myself from even hinting such folly as a comparison of scenery, I will merely remark that these two cañons are more capable of a comparison than different scenes usually are; for they belong to the same type--deep cuts in crystalline rocks. Between them come the Marshall Pass (nearly 11,000 ft. above sea-level), over the continental divide, and the Poncha Pass, over the Sangre di Cristo range. This range contains Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Elbert, Massive (the peak opposite Leadville), and other summits exceeding the altitude of 14,000 ft. To the east of it is the valley of the Arkansas, into which and down which we pass, and so through the Royal Gorge to Cañon City and Pueblo, where we arrived before dark on the day after leaving Salt Lake. Salt Lake, the Jordan Valley, Utah Lake, the Wahsatch, Castle Cañon, the Black Cañon of the Gunnison, Marshall Pass, Poncha Pass, the Arkansas Valley, the Royal Gorge--what a catalogue for so brief a journey! No wonder everybody who has made it is "wild about it!" If enthusiastic urgency of recommendation from every passenger has any influence (and I know it has a great deal), this road will continue to be, as it is at present, crowded with tourists. It furnishes a delightful route for those who wish on the overland journey to see Denver (as who does not?) and to visit Colorado Springs and Manitou. All this can be done _en route_, without retracing the steps. * * * * *