Letters to a Friend 



thorne says that steam spiritualizes travel, but I 

 think that it squarely degrades and materializes 

 travel. However, flies and fevers have to be 

 considered in this case. I am glad that Ned has 

 gone. The woods of the Purus will be a grand 

 place for the growth of men. It must be that 

 I am going soon, for you have shown me the 

 way. People say that my wanderings are very 

 mazy and methodless, but they are all known 

 to you in some way before I think of them. You 

 are a prophet in the concerns of my little out 

 side life, and pray, what says the spirit about 

 my final escape from Yosemite? You saw me 

 at these rock altars years ago, and I think I 

 shall remain among them until you take me 

 away. I reached this place last month by fol 

 lowing the Merced out of the valley and through 

 all its canons to the plains above Snelling, a 

 most glorious walk. 



I intended returning to the valley ere this, 



but Mr. Delaney, the man with whom I am 



stopping at present, would not allow me to 



leave before I had plowed his field, and so I will 



[94] 



