﻿ACADEMY 
  OF 
  SCIENCES. 
  155 
  

  

  tiary 
  period. 
  He 
  proposed 
  to 
  determine 
  the 
  species, 
  and 
  publish 
  a 
  

   list 
  at 
  an 
  early 
  day. 
  

  

  Remarks 
  on 
  the 
  Upper 
  Tuolumne 
  Canon. 
  

  

  BY 
  ROBERT 
  E. 
  C. 
  STEARNS. 
  

  

  Recent 
  numbers 
  of 
  the 
  Overland 
  Monthly 
  have 
  contained 
  con- 
  

   tributions 
  by 
  Mr. 
  John 
  Muir, 
  descriptive 
  of 
  the 
  upper 
  valley 
  of 
  the 
  

   Tuolumne, 
  and 
  that 
  portion 
  of 
  said 
  valley 
  known 
  as 
  the 
  Hetch- 
  

   Hetchy. 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  gratifying 
  to 
  know 
  that 
  Mr. 
  Muir 
  has 
  found 
  the 
  valley 
  not 
  

   difficult 
  of 
  access, 
  though 
  at 
  one 
  time 
  supposed 
  to 
  be 
  so, 
  after 
  a 
  

   partial 
  effort 
  made 
  from 
  an 
  inaccessible 
  point, 
  by 
  Mr. 
  Clarence 
  

   King. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  above 
  publication 
  for 
  August 
  last, 
  Mr. 
  Muir 
  says 
  : 
  

  

  "Sometime 
  in 
  August, 
  in 
  the 
  year 
  1869, 
  in 
  following 
  the 
  river 
  three 
  or 
  four 
  

   miles 
  below 
  the 
  Soda 
  Springs, 
  I 
  obtuined 
  a 
  partial 
  view 
  of 
  the 
  Great 
  Tuolumne 
  

   Canon, 
  before 
  I 
  had 
  heard 
  of 
  its 
  existence. 
  The 
  following 
  winter 
  I 
  read 
  what 
  

   the 
  State 
  Geologist 
  wrote 
  concerning 
  it." 
  

  

  He 
  here 
  quotes 
  from 
  Prof. 
  Whitney 
  as 
  follows 
  : 
  

  

  "The 
  river 
  enters 
  a 
  canon 
  which 
  is 
  about 
  twenty 
  miles 
  long, 
  and 
  probably 
  

   inaccessible 
  through 
  its 
  entire 
  length. 
  * 
  * 
  * 
  It 
  certainly 
  cannot 
  be 
  entered 
  from 
  

   its 
  head. 
  Mr. 
  King 
  followed 
  this 
  canon 
  down 
  as 
  far 
  as 
  he 
  could, 
  to 
  where 
  the 
  

   river 
  precipitated 
  itself 
  down 
  in 
  a 
  grand 
  fall, 
  over 
  a 
  mass 
  of 
  rock 
  so 
  rounded 
  on 
  

   the 
  edge 
  that 
  it 
  was 
  impossible 
  for 
  him 
  to 
  approach 
  near 
  enough 
  to 
  look 
  over. 
  

   Where 
  the 
  canon 
  opens 
  out 
  again 
  twenty 
  miles 
  below, 
  so 
  as 
  to 
  be 
  accessible, 
  a 
  

   remarkable 
  counterpart 
  to 
  Yosemite 
  is 
  found, 
  called 
  the 
  Hetch-Hetchy 
  Valley. 
  

   * 
  * 
  * 
  * 
  Between 
  this 
  and 
  Soda 
  Springs 
  there 
  is 
  a 
  descent 
  in 
  the 
  river 
  of 
  

   4,500 
  feet 
  ; 
  and 
  what 
  grand 
  water-falls 
  and 
  stupendous 
  scenery 
  there 
  may 
  be 
  

   here 
  it 
  is 
  not 
  easy 
  to 
  say. 
  * 
  * 
  * 
  Adventurous 
  climbers 
  * 
  * 
  * 
  * 
  should 
  try 
  to 
  

   penetrate 
  into 
  this 
  unknown 
  gorge, 
  which 
  perhaps 
  may 
  admit 
  of 
  being 
  entered 
  

   through 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  side 
  canons 
  coming 
  in 
  from 
  the 
  north." 
  

  

  Mr. 
  Muir 
  here 
  resumes 
  : 
  

  

  " 
  Since 
  that 
  time 
  I 
  have 
  entered 
  the 
  Great 
  Canon 
  from 
  the 
  north 
  by 
  three 
  dif- 
  

   ferent 
  side 
  canons, 
  and 
  have 
  passed 
  through 
  from 
  end 
  to 
  end, 
  entering 
  at 
  the 
  

   Hetch-Hetchy 
  Valley 
  and 
  coming 
  out 
  at 
  the 
  Big 
  Meadows, 
  below 
  the 
  Soda 
  

   Springs, 
  without 
  encountering 
  any 
  extraordinary 
  difficulties. 
  I 
  am 
  sure 
  that 
  it 
  

   may 
  be 
  entered 
  at 
  more 
  than 
  fifty 
  different 
  points 
  along 
  the 
  walls, 
  by 
  mountain- 
  

   eers 
  of 
  ordinary 
  nerve 
  and 
  skill. 
  At 
  the 
  head, 
  it 
  is 
  easily 
  accessible 
  on 
  both 
  

  

  