116 THE MOUNTAINS OF CALIFORNIA 



hunger-time when they wished to make sure of a 

 feast ; for hunting in this lake-hollow is like hunt 

 ing in a fenced park. I had told the beauty of 

 Shadow Lake only to a few friends, fearing it might 

 come to be trampled and "improved" like Yosem- 

 ite. On my last visit, as I was sauntering along 

 the shore on the strip of sand between the water 

 and sod, reading the tracks of the wild animals 

 that live here, I was startled by a human track, 

 which I at once saw belonged to some shepherd; 

 for each step was turned out 35 or 40 from the 

 general course pursued, and was also run over in an 

 uncertain sprawling fashion at the heel, while a row 

 of round dots on the right indicated the staff that 

 shepherds carry. None but a shepherd could make 

 such a track, and after tracing it a few minutes I 

 began to fear that he might be seeking pasturage ; 

 for what else could he be seeking ? Returning from 

 the glaciers shortly afterward, my worst fears were 

 realized. A trail had been made down the moun 

 tain-side from the north, and all the gardens and 

 meadows were destroyed by a horde of hoofed lo 

 custs, as if swept by a fire. The money-changers 

 were in the temple. 



OEANGE LAKE 



BESIDES these larger canon lakes, fed by the main 

 canon streams, there are many smaller ones lying 

 aloft on the top of rock benches, entirely indepen 

 dent of the general drainage channels, and of 

 course drawing their supplies from a very limited 



