ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES. 369 



from 3,800 to 3,900 feet, a little less than that of Yosemite. The valley is three 

 miles long running nearly east and west, with but little fall in this distance. 

 Xear its center it is cut in two by a low spur of shelving granite coming from 

 the south. The lower part forms a large open meadow with excellent grass, one 

 mile in length, and gradually increasing from ten chains to a little over half a 

 mile in width, and only timbered along the edges. The lower part of this 

 meadow terminates in a very narrow canon, the hills sloping down to the river 

 at an angle of from 40° to 60°, only leaving a channel from six to ten feet wide ; 

 the river in the valley having an average width of about fifty feet. This is the 

 principal cause of the overflow in spring time of the lower part of the valley, and 

 probably also has given rise to the report of there being a large lake in the 

 valley. Below this canon is another small meadow, with a pond. The upper 

 part of Hetch-Hetchy, east of the granite spur, forms a meadow one and three- 

 fourths miles in length, varying from ten to thirty chains in width, well timbered 

 and affording good grazing. The scenery resembles very much that of the Yo- 

 semite, although the bluffs are not as high, nor do they extend as far. On the 

 north side of the valley, opposite the granite spur we first have a perpendicular 

 bluff, the top of which is 1,800 feet above the valley ; the talus at the base is 

 about five hundred feet above the valley, leaving a precipice of about 1,300 feet. 

 In the spring when the snows are melting a large creek precipitates itself over 

 the western part of this bluff. I was told that this fall is one of the grandest 

 features of the valley, sending its spray all over its lower portion. It was dry, 

 however, at the time of my visit. The fall is 1,000 feet perpendicular, after 

 which it strikes the debris and loses itself among the rocks. About thirty 

 chains further east we come to the Hetch-Hetchy fall ; its height above the 

 valley is 1,700 feet. This fall is not perpendicular, although it appears so from 

 the front, as may be seen from the photograph by .Mr. Harris. It falls in a 

 series of cascades at an angle of about 70°. At the time of my visit the volume 

 of water was much greater thau that of Yosemite fall, and I was told that in 

 the spring its roarings can be heard for miles. 



Still further east we have two peaks, shaped very much like " The Three 

 Brothers," in the Yosemite. Their base forms a large, naked and sloping granite 

 wall on the north side of the valley, broken by two timbered shelves, which run 

 horizontally the whole length of the wall. Up to the lower shelf or bend, about 

 eight hundred feet high, the wall, which slopes at an angle of from 45° to 70°, 

 is polished by glaciers, and probably these markings extend still higher up, as 

 on entering the valley the trail followed back of and along a moraine for several 

 miles, the height of which was about 1,200 feet above the valley. The same 

 polish shows itself in places all along the bluffs on both sides, and particularly 

 fine on the granite spur crossing the valley. There is no doubt that the largest 

 branch of the great glacier which originated near Mt. Dana and Mount Lyell, 

 made its way by Soda Springs to this valley. A singular feature of this valley 

 is the total absence of talus or debris at the base of the bluffs, excepting at one 

 place in front of the falls. Another remarkable rock, corresponding with 

 Cathedral Rock in the Yosemite, stands on the south side of the valley, directly 

 opposite Hetch-Hetchy fall ; its height is 2,270 feet above the valley. The 

 photograph by Mr. Harris will give some idea of this rock. 



