fined basin! Its glacial inscriptions and
sculptures, how marvelous they seem, how noble the studies they offer! I
tremble with excitement in the dawn of these glorious mountain
sublimities, but I can only gaze and wonder, and, like a child, gather
here and there a lily, half hoping I may be able to study and learn in
years to come.

The drivers and dogs had a lively, laborious time getting the sheep
across the creek, the second large stream thus far that they have been
compelled to cross without a bridge; the first being the North Fork of
the Merced near Bower Cave. Men and dogs, shouting and barking, drove
the timid, water-fearing creatures in a close crowd against the bank,
but not one of the flock would launch away. While thus jammed, the Don
and the shepherd rushed through the frightened crowd to stampede those
in front, but this would only cause a break backward, and away they
would scamper through the stream-bank trees and scatter over the rocky
pavement. Then with the aid of the dogs the runaways would again be
gathered and made to face the stream, and again the compacted mass would
break away, amid wild shouting and barking that might well have
disturbed the stream itself and marred the music of its falls, to which
visitors no doubt from all quarters of the globe were listening. "Hold
them there! Now hold them there!" shouted the Don; "the front ranks will
soon tire of the pressure, and be glad to take to the water, then all
will jump in and cross in a hurry." But they did nothing of the kind;
they only avoided the pressure by breaking back in scores and hundreds,
leaving the beauty of the banks sadly trampled.

If only one could be got to cross over, all would make haste to follow;
but that one could not be found. A lamb was caught, carried across, and
tied to a bush on the opposite bank, where it cried piteously for its
mother. But though greatly concerned, the mother only called it back.
That play on maternal affection failed, and we began to fear that we
should be forced to make a long roundabout drive and cross the
wide-spread tributaries of the creek in succession. This would require
several days, but it had its advantages, for I was eager to see the
sources of so famous a stream. Don Quixote, however, determined that
they must ford just here, and immediately began a sort of siege by
cutting down slender pines on the bank and building a corral barely
large enough to hold the flock when well pressed toget