Page:California Inter Pocula.djvu/23



mere threads,  which  are  shattered  to  mist  in  their descent, or  disappear  entirely. Frost dispels  a  portion of the  summer  haze,  and  the  air  of  whiter  is  clear  and cold. The granite  walls  glisten  in  a  net-work  of  ice, and the  frozen  vapor  whirls  through  the  canon,  smit- ing the cliffs,  and  overspreading  the  domes  in  layers of white,  which,  as  they  thicken,  loosen  their  hold, slide off  in  huge  masses,  and  striking  upon  the  debris piles, break  into  powder,  and  fill  the  gorge  to  the  brim with fine  particles  of  frozen  mist,  which  sparkle  like diamond dust.

Further upward  in  the  valley,  just  beyond  the Bridal Veil,  is  Cathedral  rock,  and  still  a  little  further, shooting up  in  graceful  pinnacles. The Spires. Then on the  left  come  the  Three  Brothers,  called  by  the natives Pompompasus,  or  Leaping  Frogs;  and  pro- jecting from the  opposite  side  the  obelisk-formed  Sen- tinel rock, which  rises  from  the  river,  like  a  watch-tower, over three  thousand  feet. Across the  valley  from Sentinel rock,  and  fed  exclusively  by  melting  snows, is the  great  Yosemite  fall,  the  largest  in  the  world,  if height  and  volume  both  be  considered,  being  fifteen times as  high  as  Niagara,  and  most  indescribably grand. Springing from  the  verge  of  the- chasm,  over  a smoothly  polished,  perpendicular  wall  of  fifteen  hun- dred feet, and  swaying  in  the  wind  like  a  scarf  of  lace, the water  strikes  upon  a  rough,  inclined  shelf,  over which, ragged  with  foam,  or  spread  out  in  transparent aprons, it  rushes  in  a  seiies  of  cascades  equal  to  625 feet perpendicular  to  the  verge,  when,  with  a  final plunge of  400  feet,  this  most  magnificent  of  half-mile leaps is  consummated. No small  portion  of  the  water which drops  from  the  top,  and  which  widens  and scatters in  its  descent,  is  dashed  into  spray  before reaching the  bottom;  yet  enough  is  left,  even  in  the dryest part  of  the  season,  to  send  a  deep,  hoarse  roar reverberatino; throuo;h  the  canon.

Two miles  above  the  Yosemite  fall,  the  valley  splits into three  canons,  at  the  head  of  the  middle  one  of