as it
flits about amid the loud uproar, bespeak strength and peace and joy.
Contemplating these darlings of Nature coming forth from spray-sprinkled
nests on the brink of savage streams, Samson's riddle comes to mind,
"Out of the strong cometh forth sweetness." A yet finer bloom is this
little bird than the foam-bells in eddying pools. Gentle bird, a
precious message you bring me. We may miss the meaning of the torrent,
but thy sweet voice, only love is in it.

_July 13._ Our course all day has been eastward over the rim of Yosemite
Creek basin and down about halfway to the bottom, where we have encamped
on a sheet of glacier-polished granite, a firm foundation for beds. Saw
the tracks of a very large bear on the trail, and the Don talked of
bears in general. I said I should like to see the maker of these immense
tracks as he marched along, and follow him for days, without disturbing
him, to learn something of the life of this master beast of the
wilderness. Lambs, the Don told me, born in the lowland, that never saw
or heard a bear, snort and run in terror when they catch the scent,
showing how fully they have inherited a knowledge of their enemy. Hogs,
mules, horses, and cattle are afraid of bears, and are seized with
ungovernable terror when they approach, particularly hogs and mules.
Hogs are frequently driven to pastures in the foothills of the Coast
Range and Sierra where acorns are abundant, and are herded in droves of
hundreds like sheep. When a bear comes to the range they promptly leave
it, emigrating in a body, usually in the night time, the keepers being
powerless to prevent; they thus show more sense than sheep, that simply
scatter in the rocks and brush and await their fate. Mules flee like the
wind with or without riders when they see a bear, and, if picketed,
sometimes break their necks in trying to break their ropes, though I
have not heard of bears killing mules or horses. Of hogs they are said
to be particularly fond, bolting small ones, bones and all, without
choice of parts. In particular, Mr. Delaney assured me that all kinds of
bears in the Sierra are very shy, and that hunters found far greater
difficulty in getting within gunshot of them than of deer or indeed any
other animal in the Sierra, and if I was anxious to see much of them I
should have to wait and watch with endless Indian patience and pay no
attention to anything else.

Night is coming on, the gray rock waves are growing dim in the