"Our camping-place was near the house occupied by sisters of charity,
and the black-robed, sweet-faced women came out to offer us the
refreshing cup of tea and the new-made bread.
"All that we needed was 'space,' and of that there was plenty.
"Our tents being up and the telescopes mounted, we had time to look
around at the view. The space had the unlimitedness that we usually
connect with sea and sky. Our tents were on the slope of a hill, at the
foot of which we were about six thousand feet above the sea. The plain
was three times as high as the hills of the Hudson-river region, and
there arose on the south, almost from west to east, the peaks upon peaks
of the Rocky mountains. One needs to live upon such a plateau for weeks,
to take in the grandeur of the panorama.
"It is always difficult to teach the man of the people that natural
phenomena belong as much to him as to scientific people. Camping parties
who put up telescopes are always supposed to be corporations with
particular privileges, and curious lookers-on gather around, and try to
enter what they consider a charmed circle. We were remarkably free from
specialists of this kind. Camping on the south-west slope of the hill,
we were hidden on the north and east, and another party which chose the
brow of the hill was much more attractive to the crowd. Our good
serving-man was told to send away the few strollers who approached; even
our friends from the city were asked to remove beyond the reach of
voice.
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