102 



THE MOUNTAINS OF CALIFORNIA 



The Merced River, as a whole, is remarkably like 

 an elm-tree, and it requires but little effort on the 

 part of the imagination to picture it standing up 

 right, with all its lakes hanging upon its spreading 

 branches, the topmost eighty miles in height. Now 

 add all the other lake-bearing rivers of the Sierra, 

 each in its place, and you will have a truly glorious 

 spectacle, an avenue the length and width of the 



LAKE TENAYA, ONE OF THE YO SEMITE FOUNTAINS. 



range; the long, slender, gray shafts of the main 

 trunks, the milky way of arching branches, and the 

 silvery lakes, all clearly denned and shining on 

 the sky. How excitedly such an addition to the 

 scenery would be gazed at ! Yet these lakef ul riv- 



