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THE GUIDE TO NATURE. 



dry and bare hills give plaee to more rug- 

 ged ones covered with scrubby trees and 

 low chaparral. Then comes the wonder- 

 ful Merced River Canon with its wild 

 and picturesque scenery. Here for miles 

 you follow in the wake of the turbulent, 

 crystal waters, skirting the very edges 

 of the rugged, boulder strewn banks 

 which hem in their surging course. You 

 cross and recross their foaming cascades 

 and wind steadily upward through the 

 old historic mining district until vou 



and wider ; the cliffs rise above you ; 

 there are cracks and crevices that seem 

 nests for multicolored shadows, and 

 above clouds white against the blue. 



To your right looms up Elephant Rock 

 which, though minus his trunk, towers 

 ponderously above you, while a little 

 farther on to your left stands El Capi- 

 tan, "The Great Chieftain of the Val- 

 ley," straight and erect, presenting his 

 glistening and perpendicular walls of 

 solid granite to your wondering gaze and 



MIRROR LAKE, YOSEMITE. 

 A beautiful natural mirror. 



reach El Portal, the terminus of the 

 mad. The remainder of your journey is 

 taken by stage, which gives you a brief 

 and charming taste of staging in the 

 Sierras. 



N > on follow the winding: and rising 

 mountain road to meet newer and great- 

 er wonders beautiful beyond description, 

 though rare spirits like Muir have given 

 picture writings that carry you into Na- 

 ture's realm. Always following your 

 magical river, the valley becomes deeper 



at his great height of three thousand 

 and twelve feet he looks across to liridal 

 Veil Falls leaping, breaking, falling and 

 finally misting upward again with in- 

 numerable iridescent rainbows caught in 

 her spray. This is Pohono, "Spirit of 

 the Evil Wind," bewitching and luring 

 the beautiful Indian maiden to her doom. 

 Even to this day the Indians avoid this 

 mystic fall. 



Xow you pause at Artist's Point, the 

 most macrical and entrancing of view 



