96 THE MOUNTAINS OF CALIFOBNIA 



vation with the wild rose, cherry, aster, and the 

 delicate abronia; also innumerable gilias, phloxes, 

 poppies, and bush-compositae. I observed their 

 gestures and the various expressions of their 

 corollas, inquiring how they could be so fresh and 

 beautiful out in this volcanic desert. They told 

 as happy a life as any plant-company I ever met, 

 and seemed to enjoy even the hot sand and the 

 wind. 



But the vegetation of the pass has been in great 

 part destroyed, and the same may be said of all the 

 more accessible passes throughout the range. Im 

 mense numbers of starving sheep and cattle have 

 been driven through them into Nevada, trampling 

 the wild gardens and meadows almost out of exis 

 tence. The lofty walls are untouched by any foot, 

 and the falls sing on unchanged ; but the sight of 

 crushed flowers and stripped, bitten bushes goes far 

 toward destroying the charm of wildness. 



The canon should be seen in winter. A good, 

 strong traveler, who knows the way and the weather, 

 might easily make a safe excursion through it from 

 Yosemite Valley on snow-shoes during some tran 

 quil time, when the storms are hushed. The lakes 

 and falls would be buried then ; but so, also, would 

 be the traces of destructive feet, while the views of 

 the mountains in their winter garb, and the ride 

 at lightning speed down the pass between the snowy 

 walls, would be truly glorious. 



