The Union and journal. [volume] (Biddeford, Me.) 1858-1882, 1861-03-01

impression which fourteen thousand feet o
height ought to leave on the mind. But |,
1t may challenge any portion Of the globe
except the awful gorges Of the Himalaya
through which the gloomy Sutluj pours, to
rival the savageness and sublimity Of these
cliffs and spires. The Sauguenay river shores
are the best suggestion of the rocky sides OF
the Yo- Semitic valley but their grandesi
headlands are not half so high as portions
OF these battlements, Drain the black tide
OF the Sagucnay from its bed, and cover the
bottom Of the chasm thus revealed with
brilliant meadows and groves two hundred
feet high, and Canada could show twin
Yosemite.
After leaving the nook in which the
Pohono tumblcs, we found ourselves soon
under cliff twice as high. We were oblig-
cd to turn our heads back, to sec its crest
two thousand feet of sheer height above us.
The first view was so terrible that supposed
it the most striking scenery in oil the valley,
aud was greatly astonishcd ut learning
the absolute measurement Of the precipice.
Opposite this cliff, on the northerly bank Of
OF the river, stood the sublime rock called
"El Captain or the chieftain,-aSpanish
rendering Of the Indian name" Tu-tocl,.ah-
nu-lah," u sachem of one of the early tribes.
This wonderful peice of masonry stands ut
an angle with the valley, presenting sharp
edge and two sides in one view. And how
high think you Z? 5Sl7 feet Can't we hon.
estly put an explanation point there? Re
member, too, that il stands straight. There
is no easy curve line, rs in the sides Of the
White Mountain Notch,-tO picture Of
which lilt my eyes as write in my library.
In fact, the monstrOus mass beetles u little.
You can stand on the summit and drop
plutnb-line to the base, called 1t just now
apece Of natural. masonary but tho worl
isinaccurate. The immense es es,arpment has
no mark or crack of qualification, There
is no vegetation growing anywhere ON 1t, for
there il no patch of soil on either front, and
no break where soil can lodge and shrub
can grow. 1t is one block OF naked granite
pushed up from below to give us u sample of
cellar pavement Of our California counties,
and to show us what it is that our earth
quakcs joggle: one face of the wall is wealth
or stained or lichen-stained with rich cream
colorcd patches on the other face is ashy
grey. A more majestic object expect never
to see on this planet. Great is granite, and
the Yo Scmcte Is its prophet
We ride alonga little further on the right
bank of the river, and find another portion
of the wall over our heads on tho right hand
from which two immense obclieks are uprcar-
ed. They are called +" The Sisters" These
I" Sisters" look down upon you from an al
ttudc of .hirty.fvc hundred feet, and occas-
ionally send their respects to the meadow In
fake or two of a thousand tons, dropping
perpendicnlarly more than half mile
Another mile and we are nndcr the shadow
of The Sentinel" Look up to that" " pin
acled silence !''-There il q height greater
than the twin obelisks last left, and even
overlooking by five hundred feet the wall
FL Captain, on the left bank below, How
charningly the frosts have gnawed and raw
aged its upper edges. We drive close to the
base, hold our heads back ut right angle
with tho backbone, and gaze long at the del
icate points and lines ofthose splinters of
the zenith. Tho highest Of those needles IL
4347 feet over our heads. Reader, do you
appreciate that height? Probably you have
been in I" The Glen "among tho White
Mountains, and you remember the sharp
peak of MtAdams, whose pyramid is 80
symmetrical seen from the porch Of the
Glen House. But on that porch you stand
ut least three uilcs from the center of tho
mountains base. Imagine Mt. Adams Glow
en- by Omnipotencc from that apex to its
lowest stone, 50 that you could rido on. horse
back within few rods of the smooth wall,
and look up from plnth to crown That
summit is not quite iorty-thrcc hundred feet
above the glen and you can now judge what
it is to turn your eye to the dim turrets OF
" The Sentinel" in Yo-Scmite.
Near the Sentinel are two immense domcs
one of which is 4067 feet in height-taller
than Mount Washington and the eide of
s.. Peters church is not more perpendicular
than tho wall which 1t crowus.
As We approach the hotel and turn toward
the opposite bank of the river, what is that
Which ever sounds and shines,
A pillar of white light upon tho wall
Oipurpc cliffs aloOf deserted
That reader is the highest waterfall in
the world, the Yo-Semlte cataract, 2jOO feet
in its plunge, dashing from break or de-
preston in acliir 1900 feet sheer Of course
we must not CONNER co description of it
here. 1t won't run dry-at least the memory
of il will not-before another can be written.
FEARFUL CONFLICT WITH TIGREss.