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  PROCEEDINGS 
  OP 
  THE 
  CALIFORNIA 
  

  

  This 
  eruption 
  is 
  of 
  very 
  recent 
  geological 
  age, 
  far 
  subsequent 
  in 
  date 
  to 
  the 
  

   great 
  volcanic 
  period 
  which 
  covered 
  the 
  northern 
  Sierra 
  with 
  such 
  vast 
  quantities 
  

   of 
  eruptive 
  matter 
  ; 
  for, 
  throughout 
  the 
  central 
  counties 
  of 
  the 
  State, 
  this 
  period 
  

   was 
  substantially 
  closed 
  before 
  the 
  excavation 
  of 
  the 
  modern 
  canons 
  began 
  ; 
  

   while 
  this 
  eruption 
  occurred 
  very 
  late 
  in 
  the 
  history 
  of 
  the 
  formation 
  of 
  these 
  

   canons. 
  Tet, 
  if 
  we 
  could 
  determine 
  the 
  years 
  that 
  have 
  passed, 
  we 
  should 
  find 
  

   it 
  old 
  enough 
  as 
  compared 
  with 
  the 
  life 
  of 
  a 
  man 
  ; 
  for 
  since 
  it 
  happened, 
  the 
  

   little 
  stream 
  whose 
  bed 
  it 
  followed 
  has 
  not 
  only 
  cut 
  through 
  it 
  here 
  and 
  there, 
  

   but 
  near 
  its 
  mouth 
  has 
  eaten 
  its 
  way 
  two 
  or 
  three 
  hundred 
  feet 
  deeper 
  than 
  

   before 
  into 
  the 
  solid 
  granite 
  under 
  it. 
  How 
  far 
  down 
  the 
  cailon 
  of 
  the 
  Kern 
  

   River 
  itself 
  the 
  flow 
  may 
  have 
  originally 
  extended 
  it 
  is 
  impossible 
  to 
  tell 
  ; 
  for 
  

   the 
  river, 
  in 
  deepening 
  its 
  own 
  canon, 
  has 
  here 
  swept 
  it 
  all 
  away. 
  

  

  For 
  a 
  considerable 
  portion 
  of 
  the 
  way 
  where 
  the 
  bottom 
  of 
  the 
  lava 
  is 
  now 
  

   exposed, 
  it 
  rests 
  upon 
  heavy 
  masses 
  of 
  calcareous 
  tufa, 
  previously 
  deposited 
  by 
  

   mineral 
  springs 
  ; 
  and 
  I 
  noted, 
  as 
  an 
  interesting 
  fact 
  which 
  I 
  do 
  not 
  pretend 
  to 
  

   explain, 
  that 
  at 
  a 
  point 
  where 
  I 
  examined 
  the 
  tufa, 
  in 
  immediate 
  contact 
  with 
  

   the 
  overlying 
  solid 
  lava, 
  I 
  could 
  detect 
  no 
  physical 
  change 
  in 
  it, 
  such 
  as 
  might 
  

   have 
  been 
  expected 
  from 
  the 
  heat 
  to 
  which 
  it 
  must 
  have 
  been 
  exposed 
  ; 
  but 
  it 
  

   appeared 
  just 
  like 
  the 
  same 
  tufa 
  in 
  other 
  places 
  where 
  the 
  lava 
  had 
  not 
  touched 
  

   it. 
  Neither 
  shall 
  I 
  attempt 
  to 
  answer 
  the 
  puzzling 
  question, 
  why 
  this 
  little 
  

   cluster 
  of 
  volcanic 
  outbreaks 
  should 
  occur 
  away 
  up 
  here, 
  in 
  the 
  heart 
  of 
  the 
  

   solid 
  granite 
  range, 
  9000 
  feet 
  above 
  the 
  sea, 
  and 
  with 
  nothing 
  else 
  volcanic, 
  so 
  

   far 
  as 
  I 
  know, 
  within 
  less 
  than 
  thirty 
  or 
  forty 
  miles 
  of 
  it 
  in 
  any 
  direction. 
  I 
  

   only 
  note 
  the 
  fact. 
  

  

  Another 
  point 
  of 
  some 
  interest 
  is 
  the 
  fact 
  that, 
  though 
  I 
  hunted 
  for 
  them, 
  I 
  

   found 
  no 
  glacial 
  scratches, 
  nor 
  any 
  other 
  evidence 
  of 
  the 
  former 
  existence 
  of 
  gla- 
  

   ciers 
  any 
  where 
  in 
  this 
  portion 
  of 
  the 
  mountains 
  ; 
  not 
  even 
  on 
  the 
  peak 
  which 
  has 
  

   been 
  mi.~taken 
  for 
  Mount 
  Whitney, 
  and 
  which 
  is 
  over 
  14,000 
  feet 
  high 
  ; 
  nor 
  on 
  

   the 
  top 
  or 
  sides 
  of 
  another 
  peak 
  which 
  I 
  climbed 
  in 
  the 
  western 
  summit, 
  four 
  or 
  

   five 
  miles 
  northwest 
  of 
  Soda 
  Springs, 
  and 
  which 
  cannot 
  be 
  much 
  less 
  than 
  

   12,000 
  feet 
  high 
  ; 
  nor 
  in 
  the 
  caiion 
  of 
  the 
  Kern 
  River 
  — 
  which 
  I 
  followed 
  for 
  four 
  

   or 
  five 
  miles 
  — 
  nor 
  anywhere 
  I 
  went, 
  did 
  I 
  find 
  any 
  traces 
  of 
  glaciers. 
  This 
  is 
  

   certainly 
  somewhat 
  remarkable, 
  when 
  we 
  consider 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  the 
  mountains 
  

   only 
  twenty 
  miles 
  to 
  the 
  north, 
  though 
  no 
  higher 
  than 
  some 
  of 
  these, 
  are, 
  ac- 
  

   cording 
  to 
  all 
  accounts, 
  full 
  of 
  glacial 
  markings. 
  It 
  is 
  true 
  that 
  much 
  of 
  the 
  

   granite 
  in 
  the 
  region 
  where 
  I 
  traveled 
  is 
  comparatively 
  soft, 
  and 
  disintegrates 
  

   rapidly 
  from 
  weathering 
  ; 
  but 
  this 
  is 
  by 
  no 
  means 
  the 
  case 
  with 
  all 
  of 
  it, 
  and 
  

   much 
  of 
  it 
  is 
  as 
  hard, 
  and 
  as 
  well 
  adapted 
  to 
  preserve 
  such 
  markings, 
  as 
  any 
  in 
  

   the 
  Sierra. 
  The 
  fact, 
  therefore, 
  of 
  their 
  general 
  if 
  not 
  total 
  absence 
  from 
  this 
  

   region 
  certainly 
  means 
  something. 
  It 
  does 
  not, 
  of 
  course, 
  prove 
  that 
  glaciers 
  

   have 
  never 
  existed 
  here, 
  nor 
  that 
  they 
  may 
  not 
  have 
  existed 
  here 
  for 
  a 
  very 
  long 
  

   time 
  ; 
  but 
  it 
  does 
  argue 
  that 
  if 
  they 
  have, 
  then, 
  owing 
  to 
  some 
  cause 
  not 
  yet 
  

   explained, 
  they 
  disappeared 
  from 
  this 
  region 
  long 
  before 
  they 
  did 
  from 
  the 
  

   mountains 
  a 
  few 
  miles 
  further 
  north. 
  

  

  The 
  general 
  character 
  and 
  appearance 
  of 
  that 
  noblest 
  portion 
  of 
  the 
  Sierra, 
  

  

  