The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1871-08-17

striking resemblance Is tie tower and
h0dN of au immense raiilte, soUe church
og castle mslc Wliheut hands
Having passed ~ tHFjf8a and y4lutcd
bim With tte feelings which thp pluro iu.
spires, We found ourselves eutcfiBu a vast
ampitheaicr. whose walls were a. high as
it- 0oor Was broad and hose root was
the SKY This amphthratn Is perhaps
Sis miles long aud three.i0urths az milo
wide, ff (ugstBa Is ROW shut oul hum
view, aud Instead el tho bold granite
mountain luwHiuH above tnu. YOU laud
10 wooded lHaJn with the everlasting
walls bmcinG back lhe continent aud
holding up tbe sky. aud though you see
around YOU enormous rocks that have at
/ some time come crashing from the
heights, vet you feel mo danger, because
( the heights are ognalcd by lao strength Of
/ the foundations and the supC~mctures.
On The lcit aud NORTH facing the hotcl
I Yosemite Falls greet. Your eyc, wish
T ! could describe 10. ! crossed The stream
I which flows nom t, and IL was as large
or lager than tho Roaring Branch In Az.
/ liuQtun ESQ lcet). | looked 70 lie top
whence, Geo feet above, Il poured Ike
slender stream of white foam, aud was
soou broken by the force u les owa tall
into spray, and the spray was Dissolved
/ into clouds, which tb1 winds would beat
! 90 and fro over the dark clil, sixteen
hundred feet from the top It was arrested
/ by O shelf iu the mountain, poured
through q pool Of 90 square acres dashed
over another fan $50 feet aud finally,
gave p last and desperate leap Of Goa feet
/ into the bottom OF the valley. Here YOU
/ could approach 50 near itBs to see the
waterfall descending ia is volume, aud
I dashing itself into foam and cloud /
stood behind H., near its base, and saw
/ the pale sun almost obscured by It's wat
/ crs as they loapcd from the rock above
across his disc. We asccnded the noun
/ tain about 500 feet above the foot OF tie
upper fall, where we could see the cloud
/ torrent at near view, and watch IL
/ through its whole descent. never cx-
/ peet 70 see ANYTHING moro magnificent.
/ We passed through this amplritheater
+ into another which wa, completely shut
out from it, aud even more remarkable.
( On the west Glacier Rock, $500 feet
/ high and on the south aud northeast 9th.
/ ar rocks as high, enclosed II with nearly
oven and triangular wall, while the peaks
/ of South Dome, Clouds Rest and Cap Of
Z
I cold silence. II occurred TO me that this
"corner Of the universe only needed a
rocky root 10 make il majestic cav
ern. Just where the Cap OF Liberty sits
upon the crest Of the walls, the main
stream Of the Mereed plunges from the
dizzy heights and dcseonds zoo feet in
the Nevada Falls, rushcs across grand
rocky table, and plungcs down the Nernal
tall $50 feet and thunders down the gorge
over huge b0ulders, fretting and beating
/ itself into white foam In rs struggle to cs-
cape. This is perhaps the most remark
able combination Of waterfalls IN the
world. And certainly, when saw the
| Cap of Liberty, and the Dome, aud
1 Clouds Rest, gathering black clouds aud
| fastening them with thunderb0lts n a
roof over the great chasm, seemed that
nature had cxerted herself here 10 be-
come most awfuliy imposing
| At the Nevada, the Vernal, the Yoso-
mite, and especially at the Bridal Veil
/ Falls, a deeply interesting and the most
beautiful feature is the rainbows. Ap-
/ preaching the falls, you enter the pcrpct-
1 ual showers OF mist, and are first attract
4 ed by Il halo that seems close about your
/ head and pecping in under your hat
brim. You mark the phenomenon, aud
at once apprehend the cause II is no
/ longer about Your head, but aperieet and
brilliant rainbow encircling you upon the
ground, aud almost within reach Of your
/ walking stick. Beyond it YOU diseOyera
1 larger and more beautiful bow, which
seems to kindle is fires in the very bot
! tom Of the foaming pool, and extend them
on either side, as il to clasp you at tho
very place where YOU stand. You find
| yourself literally at the place where tho
ends Of the rainbow meet, but there Is no
/ pot full of gold which the old legend of.
/ fers TO him who finds the end Of the RAIN
/ bow.
On the top Of the Bridal Veil | saw,
when a mile distant, one of the brightest
\ of rainbows. ! shall ever regret that ]
/ had not time TO visit this waterfall, and
battle myself in the rainbows at its foot
while / could wonder at those about it,
head and along It's descent, ever shifting
! rs the winds wave the veil 70 and fro up.
on the face Of the rocks. II would not
occur 10 YOU as proper to draw aside this
/ veil with your hand and kiss tho bride
I that is behind IL.
, was in the valley but little over two
days, aud visited but few Of the interest
ing points. Men fluid it impossible TO
comprehend the yastue-s Of these scenes.
ielt that all my standards OF compare
son were gone. The plain and river aud
immediate objects were natural enough,
bat bad no perspective into which
could &c those eternal rocks aud measure
of the vast features that sat upon them.
/ knew that the upper Yosemite falls was
600 feet, but il looked coo feet or less.
The pine tree that stood by Il on a shelf
half way np the mountain looked as II
could draw ii through thmbc, vet 10
had been measured and was ~ feet high
aud well proportioned.
II is folly 10 visit the Yosemite valley
aud rush about two or three days, and
then leave IL, as the majority do. To
take in and enjoy is part eular scenes,
enc needs TO SIT down and commune with
them 10 form their groupings on the
grand scale by which nature has planned
thcm one needs TO dwell among them nn-
2 til distances, aud attitudes, and relative
positions become familiar. At frat sight,
the child rcache. ont its band 10 take hold
of tie moon, next il secs il beyond the
. hOuse Or above the tree top next IL sii-
upon the distant horizon, but there its
standard ends; and when the teacher de-
clares its true distance, the wondering
pupil asserts that 10 cannot be, because II
. does not come within the limit Of the
: sense, but seems contrary % the senses.
, II is SO with the Yosemite The untfay-
eIcd secs IL 10 an the naffOWncsr ~ their
. gnexpaudcd ideas, and iis proportions
. sccm TO them 70 be disgustinglY small,
and alI their large expectations are disap-
b pointed. They 20 away aud pronounce
( ihe Yosemite a humbng. Those @h0 have
] seen tAe world aud its gHud features,
have explored dc Alps thc ilinalays