The mountains of California . far lower, I have been com-pelled to take off my shoes and stockings, tie themto my belt, and creep barefooted, with the utmostcaution. No wonder then, that I watched theprogress of these animal mountaineers with keensympathy, and exulted in the boundless sufficiencyof wild nature displayed in their invention, con-struction, and keeping. A few minutes later Icaught sight of a dozen more in one band, near thefoot of the upper fall. They were standing on thesame side of the river with me, only twenty-five orthirty yards away, looking as unworn and perfectas if creat
The mountains of California . far lower, I have been com-pelled to take off my shoes and stockings, tie themto my belt, and creep barefooted, with the utmostcaution. No wonder then, that I watched theprogress of these animal mountaineers with keensympathy, and exulted in the boundless sufficiencyof wild nature displayed in their invention, con-struction, and keeping. A few minutes later Icaught sight of a dozen more in one band, near thefoot of the upper fall. They were standing on thesame side of the river with me, only twenty-five orthirty yards away, looking as unworn and perfectas if created on the spot. It appeared by theirtracks, which I had seen in the Little Yosemito,and by their present position, that when I came upthe canon they were all feeding together down in thevalley, and in their haste to reach high ground,wherethey could look about them to ascertain the natureof the strange disturl)ance, they were divided, threeascending on one side the river, the rest on the other. 314 THE MOUNTAINS OF CALIFOENIA. CROSSING A CANON STREAM. The main band, headed by an experienced chief,now began to cross the wild rapids between thetwo divisions of the cascade. This was another THE WILD SHEEr 315 exciting feat; for, among all the varied experiencesof mountaineers, the crossing of boisterous, rock-dashed torrents is found to be one of the mosttrying to the nerves. Yet these fine fellows walkedfearlessly to the brink, and jumped from boulderto boulder, holding themselves in easy poise abovethe whirling, confusing current, as if they weredoing nothing extraordinary. In the immediate foreground of this rare picturethere was a fold of ice-burnished granite, traversedby a few bold lines in which rock-ferns and tufts ofbryanthus were growing, the gray canon walls onthe sides, nobly sculptured and adorned with browncedars and pines; lofty peaks in the distance, andin the middle ground the snowy fall, the voice andsoul of the landscape; fringing bushes beating timeto its thund
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectcaliforniadescriptio
