Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1859-08-13

With two or three points guarded, no hu-
man being once Incarcerated within It's
rocky mountain walls ever could escape.
But the greatest wonders Of this wonder
fol locality yet remain TO be described, viz,
the cataracls with which it abounds. The
drst Of these IN order, beginning at the
western end Of the Valley, (which has
due east and vest direction, the sun rising
~ one end and setting at the other,) is
called che Bridal Vail, and happily is it
named. 1t Is formed by small river which
rnshes over the preclpice on the south side
Of the Valley and falls some five hundred
feet perpendicnlarly, and runs at right an
giles with the Merced into which It finally
enters. The top Of the rock is shelving
over the line Of the perpendicular, aud the
water consequently takes q curving leap
and falls in q thin white sheet, as nearly
resembling enc gauzs vail as anything
AS you stand beside it and look up, you
can see under the water at the top where
II takes its leap, and behold the rocks and
bushes beyond. The gracefuness and beau
~ of this cascade cannot be excelled. You
might look at it Tor hours and not tire
The next in order is the Yo-hamite Fall,
which is formed by the stream of that name
which enters the Valley at q right angle
with its length on the side opposite to the
Bridal Vail The water pours over per-
pendicular ledge distance of eighteen hun
dred feet at its first plunge, and falls into q
vast chasm, from which it scon emerges a.
gain and falls four hundred feet striking the
rocks, and then taking fnal perpendieu-
lar leap Of six hundred feet more, making
tl0enty.eigkt hundred feet IN an, and form
ing the highest known cataract in the
world Some idea of the vast distance
may be had from the fact that the sheet of
water, which measures eighty seven feet in
width at the top, appears from the bottom
not to exceed eighteen inches wide, and one
may count fifteen while the water is max
ing The drst fall. Think Of body of wa
ter falling from the highest steeple in New
York, and then multiply the distance by
fifteen, or think Of cataract as high as
st. Peters at Rome, and multiply it by six
and you have an approximation to the idea
Of this tremendous natural wonder. Ma
CARA Falls, though far greater in the vol
Eme Of water, are only one hundred and
sixty feet high, or a little more than
twentieth of this Passaic Falls are sew
enty feet, those of the Nile forty, others
are one hundred, and few are known of
five or six hundred, while in the Alps are
some cascades said TO be one thousand or
twelve hundred, and even fourteen hundred
feet
Some six miles further up the Valley are
the Vernal Falls on the Merced, which are
abont 600 feet in perpendicular descent,
and half mile further, on the same stream
are the Nevada Falls, about 800 feet
Still further up the river is another fall,
which was not accessible to u.s. but which
is said to be as remarkable as these two;
while on the south fork of the Merced, not
far distant from these, may be seen still a.
mother fall of probably from 600 to 1000
feet but which is as yet unapproachable by
ordinary visitors, no trail having been open
ed to it. How many other wonders exist
in this strange locality is not known, but
will one day be revealed to the astonshed
visitors to this remarkable region.
Nothing can exceed the wildness and
grandeur of the scene amid which you
stand, on the space between the Vernal
Nevada Falls, after You have passed through
the spray of the former, getting complete
ly wet, and assembled the ladders and sur
mounted the rocks to reach the level from
which the stream makes its plunge Look
ing down, you see a perfect basin of half
mile in diameter, with sides 1000 feet high,
into which the river rolls over the preci-
pice, and goes dashing and foaming in rap
ids below. Yon look around and see "Alps
DER Alps arise" on either hand, the sides of
the canon appearing as high as when you
were in the valley below. You then turn
square around, aud the Nevada Falls are
in full view. You stand where few white
men have ever stood, and where even the
Indian seldom If ever climed, and where
the grizzly bear unquestionably made his
favorite lair, amid the mansineta bushes
which here abound, and whose fruit forms
his fayorite food
But | must not dwell longer on these
scenes. We spent four days among them,
and then was unwilling to leave. To avoid
long hard days ride to the first house
on our return, we left the Valley about 3
o'clock in the afternoon and ascended the
mountains, and at the end of ten miles se-
lected our ground beside clear mountain
stream, & under the finest trees, "camped"
for the night. Our guide picketed our
animals where they could feed, made us a
Gu Tor rather tin porringer) of tea, and
spread out our lunch of bread, dried beef,
can fruit, ETC., Of which we made hearty
meal, and then, betaking ourselves to sleep
upon the soft ground, under the branching
trees. The full moon shone upon us all
night, the cool breeze fsnned us, and in this
dry and bracing mountain climate we rest
ed and arose with the dawn Of day, refresh
ed and in no measure the worse for our ap-
parent exposure in our novel dormitory.
AyEcDorE or Governor EwARD-Coz-
zens, ia bis last Wine Press, tells an old
c4orv xsthich bo eovo fauv F,orconu hova .,oS