New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1883-09-02
CAMPING IN CALIFORNIA.
SOLITUDE.
" THE fRIBUSE.1


furthest renewed from the habIfations of men.
The fall of shree four thousand feet to the hrse
valley inst in front of appears TO be hardly haf
great IL is. and yst the sense of isolation -
much stronger than ] have found 10 in peaks
which rise close to the limit Of everlasting snow
and in bleak Alpine passrs through chaotic deserts
of bare rock. The mpr of remoteness Il
owing 10 the fact that in the whole enormous xrsa,
some hundreds of miles wids which our view COM
mands we sec no sign of human LIE. There areno
towns In THE broken country; not solitary ranch
nor titled field shows In the long valleys; no faint
line marks distant road; the trail by which We
ascended Is too slight to be discsrnsd The villages
on the coast are hidden by the mountains. Tho far
of sea looks so dim and still that we cannot always
distinguish 1t from fog and cloud Nothing moves
but the eagle and tho wind. Even the rivers are
turned 10 stone. and their dry beds are ONLY broad
paths of gravel, stretching interninabe miles be-
tween the hills. On the north side especially
where the bare red ranges rise IN corrugated lines,
one behind another till the eve loses their shape 10
glow Of color, the face of the land wearsan awful
fxity. IL is hard to realize that life or sound can
ever have been In these primitive solitndes AZ
first the sheep- hsrders reminded that wc were st
within reach of industry aud settlement; but they
have disappeared, ana we have forgotten them.
1t is q curious but quite natural consequence OF
our position that seem to nave no relations with
the rest of mankind. We speak of all that part OF
ths terrestrial universe which not Pine Mountain
as down in the world" and cannot feel that NO
have anything to do with it, The days slip away
quickly; VIZ have no dull moments; and yet IT
seems an ago since We came into the wilderness.
The time when we watched the movement Of public
events and felt concern Ia politics and business.
In art aud letters. in the crops the weather. the
markets, and the diversions of the crowd. belongs
to stage of existence long past and fading
into oblivion We force ourselves sometimes to ro-
fleet upon the busting and eager lite which goes on
every day. down in the world, Just beyond our
ken; but 1t seems very ANAL and TRIVIAL as II we
looked at it from another planet. Now and then q
carrier brings ps bag of letters and newspapers,
and for u moment we are recalled TO realities but
the mails are pretty old whom We get them; and
when you read the journals, not day by day, bus
ten ffteen numbers ut once, you hardly think OF
them as contemporary chronicles. The public has
been escited for week over duel, or o MURDER or
q political lnbrogo. a corner in pork. and before
We hear the conundrum we are told the answer.
We see st glance the whole train OF circum-
stance and DEVELOPMENT which has kept cities for
many days the quiUe Uire-ths quarrel and at tho
same time its farcical end, the mystery and its tame
solution.
1t is no wonder il we nurse little sentiment Of
stress and anxiety down in the world as not worth
the while The true life is on the mountain top.
where there are no clouds in she sky, where tho
heavens are ALWAYS spread wide in heir fullest
splendor, where the rushing air Is always pure,
where no sound Is heard but the ineessant song or
the ancient pines and the chatferiDg of birds which
have not learned that we are theis enemies. II
man is capable of reflection here ct least Is nothing
to disturb his We all have our part to play
in the great drama of the centuries; but retire
ment like this is admirable opportuafy for
learning II. Our mistakes in conduct, our misudg-
ments of other people. pursuit of ph~ntems cur
loss of great opportunities, even our selshness OF
Insi1csrity, and our bah temper. result in g'rat
part from defective vision. We only little rag
ments of events not their place n the order of the
world. season of solitude expands the scope of
the mind. Withdrawn from the daily disturbance
of discussion. and reading at once tho debate and
the decision the act and its consequences we learn
to judge tho true relations of things-aud TO do
that IS wisdom. So il happens that In this holiday
quiet the daily newspaper acquires for rs an cxcep-
tional value. Precisely because wo are out OF the
currents of excitement which 1t describes we read
1t with especial profit. It has for us something Of
the character of q general history as well as
chronicle of the hour. 1t .ells the story and II
points the moral The TRIBUNE of last week is the
commentary upon The TRIBUNE of the week before.
Regarding the rest of mankind with the critical,
faint, fsr-away interest of spectators who have
zone up higher We follow for the moment an alb
normal taste in literature. 1t is odd-but no, 1t Is
not odd it is quite natural that we lind it inn
possible here to read certain books which used TO
give as y great deal of pleasure. For example, there
are come of tho novels of Anthony Trolope in
camp. but none of touch them. Tho life
with which they deal is and vet so far that
We think Of it with mex prassbe WEAKNESS. and
we look upon its social troubles ana prox complicaa
tons with extreme intolerance But there ar
novels of other and strangely coatrasted sorts
which exactly fit our idle and dreamy moods.
Thomas Hardy's Far FROM the Msddng Crowd
Is one type of good book for the woods not on &C.
count Of the story but for its fine and original pic
lures of striking aspects of nature-thev appeal to
ne with rare force when are passing all our days
and nights out Of doors. though in scenes entirely
unlike those he has chosen to descrbe-and for the
delightfully."- true and individual drollery of Joseph
Poorgrass and his group Of gossips. There Is sub
staut al and elemental fun in the conception of these
rustrcs which would move US 1 think under any
circumstances of time and temper almost as surely
Isl para oonponere magnis) as the humor OF Shake
speare
At the opposite extreme of the category OF
relisbng fctions put those which deal with life
we have never seen ut all, or life which has never
existed. can read such q book as " Peter Simple"
with some of the old boyish zest; sh. how used
to delight in that gallant midshipman when was
about four teen years old can feel for the dashin9
and tremeudous "Tnree Gusrdsmen" romantic
attachment such as Thackeray avowed In one OF the
most charming of his Roundabout Papers; and.
best of all, can stretch myself In the shade aud
spend a whole happy cay absorbed IN SThs
Arabian Nights" If now we could Only find in our
library of nImsy pamphlet-books The Tempest
the Midsummer Nights Dream" and q Much Ado
About Nothing" We need ask no uore. Rut did
mako one day precious and surprising discovery.
found, with Albert Durers sksiching tools, few
a n Oh off ha Of