Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1866-04-29


, palid lips Of his corpse
The comparatively obscure position heiS
by American women, proves hut onefacf
, and that fact is the Comparatively iot
grade Of cirai-ati0R possessed by A07cri
can nlea!
THF YOSEMITE VALLEY, oALIFORNIA
BY HoN. RAIIE prToS, ey rESSrssEF.
Extract from a letter.
And speaking Of travelling, ! must nol no.
emit to give you some account ol oul
, delightful trip 20 the far-famed AosenlVe
valley. Our company consisleq,i =. ol . uS,se =,
4 Ozier. Of the Southern United states Dis
trict Court Judge Hagsr, Of the Fourth
District Court; Lieat. Maynard Mr.
Duer my old Andes companlonli and
I myself We left on the Seth OF June, and
reached San Francisco, on our return, al
half past Il O'Clock pm. on the 4th Of
Julv. The day we leftStOckton for Coul-
terrible. seveuty-fve miles, iu the stage,
was the hottest day ever noted in Cali
f1rnia. At Don Pedro's Bar. at 5 o'clock
INN. the thermometer stood in the shade
at ll2 and had been l39.
At COulterville we took horses, a guide,
z a cook, provisions, etc, camped out the
[ first night, and reached the valley the
next day m time TO witness the gorgeeHs
and sublime beauties of the setting sun.
I This one view, before We had seen the
/ falls, was ample compensation for the
journey. In fSct, the scale Of magnii-
| cence in which all the rude features Of
( the valley are east-the grouping to-
gether, in 30 small q compass, so much
Of the wild and sublime with the beauti-
ful and poetieal in nature, causes the falls
1 10 be almost forgotten IL the wonder IN
spired By their surrounding The first
object that strikes the attention is at q
/ distance Of ten miles the fall called most
appropriately the Bridal Veil; a clear
/ leap Of 500 feet, Of a stream more than
double the size of an ordinary stream M
] wintry stage This is the most beauu-
I fol Of al the falls, when approached as a
mere waterfall. The stream IN It's de-
scent Is in the hands Of the wind, and is
made to assume all manner Of graceful
| and coQuettish mOti0ns-the eight hum
! dred feet of veil floa.iug capTiciOusly from
side to side Of the cliff, as IF endeav0ring
1 to conceal from view the fairy spriJe
who doubtless, inhabjt- tine spot On
entering the valley your attention is
drawn from the Bridal Veil I'd FL tapl-
I tan, "a smooth, solid block Of granite on
/ tie left and nearly opposite the Nelil
1 four thousand four hundred and hfty feet
/ ia height, and from two to three miles ln
Z length This Is the most remarkable
stone for it. size and uniform surface,
perpendicuiarlya and longitudinally, prob
ably, In the world. Il has huge human
I face pretty correctly marked on its front,
and Is worshipped by the Indians, who
say the spirit of a great chief dwells with
/ in it. Hence its name.
These two, and the Big Captain, We
/ saw 70 great advantage on the evening
/ of our arrival. We ferried The river the
. main fork Of the Bercedl and encamped
about four miles above the Vel and III
[ Captain, and nearly opposite the Ose-
mite Falls. beneath some giant pines,
which are dwarfed by the immense peaks
/ towering above. There are two new hO-
. tels here, but we preferred the clean pine
forest. the pure air and clear sky that Of
Italy cannot surpass il in beauty sur
rounded as we were 10y starlighJed noun
tain peaks, with the Yosemite Falls of
1900 feet at a single plunge in full, fair
view, across the valley,
The following morning We were up
early, cooked and ate breakfast, and were
Off 10 the Yosemite Falls, and to the lake
at the upper end Of the valley, This fall
Is made by the Yosemite river, and al
y =
20 ale, the least interesting Of all. This
Is owing TO the fact that it is impractical
bic to approach the first great fall Of 1900
feet, SO as 10 be able to see it all the way
down Indeed, there are three falls be-
fore the stream reaches the valley first
the great fall Of 1900 feet, the second OF
100 feet. and the third Of 500 feet. We
viewed the scene from the foot OF the last
EII. and, being much under the cliftcOuld
SCARCELY zee the second, and had an inn
n,rfect view OF the first fall. IN fact, the
ir,rosiug view Of the great fall was al
ufrbt. from our camp, when its slveFy
Hood seemed 70 pour out Of the blue
heavens, and its tremendous roar shook
! the eartn under US. ~ for the lake II
was scarcely worth seeing, and does not
deserve a,yvOrd of notice. But the grand
.be glorious, the indescribabie Nernal
aud Eerada Falls awaited US the next
day These fails, aacut seven miles ABOVE
The Vel, and nearly i've apoge .lse ose-
mite. are made by different ana much
I larger stream chan either OF Jne olhers.
Tsafd the stream OF TIE Neil was double
/ the Size of an ordinary creek; the kOsG-
mite Waen we saw it was much larger,
but being led by Tie melting snow Of the
sierra Nevada. 10 is sometimes ufy. thl
main fOrE Of the Merced supplies the
I Verual and Nevada falls with an album
/ dant and neveF-failing stream, more Ilan
double the size Of either Of the others.
II sH .he poets, and all the painters,
and all the sculpt5rs who have ever lived
we're copyrighted at the Fernai ana Ae-
vsda falls, they, and esch Of them, would
receive new and original impressions Of
the subime and beautiful 10 nature
Every inch Of terrific rapids for miles IS
rhrillinglv interesting: and this interest
grows upou vOu as YOU approach the fall,
which Is ORtu ESQ feet, bat which shows
/ to peculiar advantage amidst gigantic
crags, immeasurable domes and m0un-
tain peakst or all spots upon the earth,
this Is the home Of the fairies ODeron
and Puck must delight 70 revel here after
q days pTauks on the scorching plains OF
the san Joaquin valley You approach
the fall Oh the slant of an almost perpen-
dicular FOck- aHA wind nap Like lly on q
1 wall, drencheo . the sslu eg the spray
( for some fifteen or twenty minutes, which
I Is a great relief and very refreshing aiter
{ the melting heat
Fhe bafuIag sun above and lhe thick
mist SaioW cOmuinsi, create the great
pst variety OF rich and peculiar rsluBoNs
ever beheld. I was 50 taken with The
poetry that ! forgot the real wIldness and
grandeur Of the scene.
The rainbOWs were OF luuunera0l6
shapes and sizes, from a span Of the en-
tire valley TO the size Of a mans hat,
and were beautifully varied, and Of the
I deepest and most brilliant huss-
Clambering up this fearful slope, we
1 found at the rock, over which the tor
( rent poured, ladders Of $50 feet with a
" Yankee al the foot keeping an eX-
temp0re grocery, containing LIQUORS and
,ardineS. We all S5ceuded and looked
I down upon the fearful falls and rapids,
and most Of Us went up 10 nevada, the
I last fall, about half a ulile above the Yer
nal Fails. This fall is estimated at F25
I feet, its source being the Merced river
| tae same Of the Nernai Falls. At the
very base Of this fall / piuclsed few
[ flowers for you, Of no woiEh save f0r the
I spot Of their nativity.
Upon The whole, except the trip across
/ the Andes. this was the most interesting
Of my travels. Having seen the Big
/ Trees Of Caleveras, 1 did not visit the
grove in Ma,iposa. Mr.. Maynard and
I Judge Ozier, however, did So while
/ Judge Hagar and myself came to the city
I Of MaTip0sa, a town greatly inferior 10
I Galiatin, Tenn.-LOldsgHic Journal