In the Sierra 



and planning for a share of the grand mass 

 of mutton. 



June 10. Very warm. We get water 

 for the camp from a rock basin at the foot 

 of a picturesque cascading reach of the river 

 where it is well stirred and made lively 

 without being beaten into dusty foam. The 

 rock here is black metamorphic slate, worn 

 into smooth knobs in the stream channels, 

 contrasting with the fine gray and white 

 cascading water as it glides and glances and 

 falls in lace-like sheets and braided over- 

 folding' currents. Tufts of sedge growing 

 on the rock knobs that rise above the sur- 

 face produce a charming effect, the long 

 elastic leaves arching over in every direc- 

 tion, the tips of the longest drooping into 

 the current, which dividing against the pro- 

 jecting rocks makes still finer lines, uniting 

 with the sedges to see how beautiful the 

 happy stream can be made. Nor is this all, 

 for the giant saxifrage also is growing on 

 some of the knob rock islets, firmly an- 



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