The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1870-11-12
Yosemite.

| Yosemite.
The Rev. DR.. J. P. Newman, is writing
series of letters, "From Ocean to Ocean, ,
for The Methodist, in one of which he give
the following description of Yosemite
Falls:
One of the great pleasures Of my trip t.
the Pacific coast was the magnificent
scenery of the Sierra Ncvadas. Properl,
speaking, there are three great chains o
mountains, presenting to the eye of the
beholder every variety of CONFORMATION
Mount Shasta, and conforms to the contour
of the shore. The Cascade range runs
from Mount Shasta to Alasky, and attain.
an altitude of 1000 feet. One hundred
and fifty miles to the east from the coas
are the Sierra proper, a continuous anG
lofty chain of montains, with an average
| width of ninety miles, and marked by {
line of dominant peaks, upon the summit.
Of which snow falls to the depth of tiftee1
feet. But of all the geological wonders O
the Sierras, their browning glory is the
Yosemite Valley. a ride of one hundred
and twenty miles from San Francisco
brings the traveller to this wonder of the
world That ride will cost many pain
groan, and dollar. The old stage coach
crowded with passengers, clean and un
clean, moves at the rate of ten miles al
hour, cnvelopcd in cloud of suffocatins
dust, rafting over roads never made fol-
wheels, and skirting precipices, looking
over which the head grows dizzy. A
hol seback-ride of twenty miles through 9
tsackless forest, guided only by the blazes
on huge pine trees; climbing mountains so
steep that the riders head comes in I'M
pleasant proximity with that of his horse
winding round the brow of valleys three
thousand feet deep, the angles in the road
along which are so sharp that the horses
body forms curve in turning; dry lips, 4
drawbacks of the journey. But to see the
Yosemite is worth hundred such jour.
neys.
1t was two o'clock in the afternoon when
we reached the valley. And who can ever
forget that first grand view? Pain and
fatigue are forgotten amid the overwhelm-
ing grandeur of the scene. Although in a
valley four thousand feet above the level OF
the sea, we were surrounded with perpen-
dicular mountains which rose above us six
thousand feet. AS we looked up the valley
ten miles long, and three miles wide, the
eye was greeted with flowing rivers, dash
ing cascades, green meadows, blooming
flowers fruitful orchards, lofty pines three
hundred feet high, and the everlasting
hills. To the right was the Bridal Veil,
with fall of nine hundred and forty feet,
its waters beaten into spray of pcarly white
nesses, and the winds blowing beneath
them spread out the spray like one who
unfolds bridal-veil of Mechlin lace. O
the beauty of that scene! How the wavy
sheets of spray gracefully undulated or fell
in cause.-The, ethereal folds-now expand
ing, now contracted; now glttering in the
sunlight like hill adorned with diamonds;
now changing into one vast many colored
cloud, rejecting the rainbow, and throwing
their misty drapcry over the falling torrent,
filling the teholder with exultation and
delight. Beyond appeared the Cathedral
Spires, reminding us Of some old Gothic
structure; and further oil stood out, in bold
relief, the Sentinel Rock, three thousand
feet high, as if to guard the approach to
the enchanted spot. To the left was Ell
Captain, or in the more liquod notes of
Indian dialect, Tu-tock- all nu-lah-an un-
broken, smooth-faced, white, granite wall,
rising perpendicularly three thousand five
hundred feet above the valley. From its
brow, by the action of winds and rains,
hugh boulders had fallen, interrupting the
approach; but directly around its base is a
narrow strip of grass, its beauty unmarried
by single stone. Standing beneath it
and looking up to its brow, which projects
one hundred and three feet, we instinctively
shuddered at the thought of being crusLe
beneath the pondcrous mass. Like Mount
Sinai, it is mount that can he "touched.' -
Midway the valley are the Yosemite
Falls, the glory of the place. Two thous,
and five hundred and fifty feet in height,
they are ten times higher than Niagara.
Over the brow of the lofty rocks, the
MERGED Creek Iours its crystal waters.
Their first great vertical leap is 1900 feet
then, after two other leaps, they reach the
rocks below, and send up their diamond
spray to the height of 700 feet. Such is
the altitude of the falls that in summer,
when the creek is low, the stream looks
like silver tread; but in spring, four hun,
dred gallons pour over the falls every second,
roaring and laundering in their downward
leap.
At the southeast end of the valley, fal
up mountain gorge, are the Vernal and
Nevada Falls. The scenery is the widest
imaginable. Granite boulders lay in oul
path around which we had to wind. Now
we entered the profound depths of the
gorge, where the overhanging rocks and
tall pines shut out the bright sunlight
now we assembled 4 more rugged defile al
the bottom of which the MERGED flows
now we mounted Il ladder up perpendicular
rocks to the cliffs above, from which VIC
looked down upon the Vernal cascade
With descent of $50 feet, the white,
foaming waters shot downward in arrowy
forms, sparkling in the morning sun. Just
beyond were the Nevada Falls, 700 feet
high, and at our feet lay the Emerald Lake
whose soft, placid bosom, tinged witt
green, suggested an immense emerald.