beautiful. Seen from the
carriage road, pouring out of the sky overhead, it gives a sense of
power, and at the proper hour before sunset, when the vast mass of
leaping, foaming water is shot through with the colors of the spectrum,
it is one of the most exquisite sights the world can offer; the
elemental forces are overwhelming, but the loveliness is engaging. One
turns from this to the noble mass of El Capitan with a shock of
surprise, however often it may have been seen. This is the hour also, in
the time of high-water, to see the reflection of the Yosemite Falls. As
a spectacle it is infinitely finer than anything at Mirror Lake, and is
unique in its way. To behold this beautiful series of falls, flowing
down out of the blue sky above, and flowing up out of an equally blue
sky in the depths of the earth, is a sight not to be forgotten. And
when the observer passes from these displays to the sight of the aerial
domes in the upper end of the valley, new wonders opening at every turn
of the forest road, his excitement has little chance of subsiding: he
may be even a little oppressed. The valley, so verdant and friendly with
grass and trees and flowers, is so narrow compared with the height of
its perpendicular guardian walls, and this little secluded spot is so
imprisoned in the gigantic mountains, that man has a feeling of
helplessness in it. This powerlessness in the presence of elemental
forces was heightened by the deluge of water. There had been an immense
fall of snow the winter before, the Merced was a raging torrent,
overflowing its banks, and from every ledge poured a miniature cataract.

[Illustration: COAST OF MONTEREY.]

Noble simplicity is the key-note to the scenery of the Yosemite, and
this is enhanced by the park-like appearance of the floor of the valley.
The stems of the fine trees are in harmony with the perpendicular lines,
and their foliage adds the necessary contrast to the gray rock masses.
In order to preserve these forest-trees, the underbrush, which is
liable to make a conflagration in a dry season, should be removed
generally, and the view of the great features be left unimpeded. The
minor canons and the trails are, of course, left as much as possible to
the riot of vegetation. The State Commission, which labors under the
disadvantages of getting its supplies from a Legislature that does not
appreciate the value of the Yosemite to California, has developed the
trails judiciously, and establis