In the Sierra 



prevent giddiness. Then, with a caution not 

 known in ordinary circumstances, I crept 

 down safely to the little ledge, got my heels 

 well planted on it, then shuffled in a hori- 

 zontal direction twenty or thirty feet until 

 close to the outplunging current, which, by 

 the time it had descended thus far, was al- 

 ready white. Here I obtained a perfectly 

 free view down into the heart of the snowy, 

 chanting throng of comet-like streamers, 

 into which the body of the fall soon sepa- 

 rates. 



While perched on that narrow niche I 

 was not distinctly conscious of danger. The 

 tremendous grandeur of the fall in form 

 and sound and motion, acting at close range, 

 smothered the sense of fear, and in such 

 places one's body takes keen care for safety 

 on its own account. How long I remained 

 down there, or how I returned, I can hardly 

 tell. Anyhow I had a glorious time, and got 

 back to camp about dark, enjoying trium- 

 phant exhilaration soon followed by dull 



