SCENERY. 141 



steeply in many places, almost vertically to a height varying 

 from 1,200 to 4,600 feet. The Merced River runs through the 

 valley, escaping at the lower end through a narrow and rugged 

 canon. 



Among the attractions of Yosemite, are a dozen cliffs, more 

 than 3,000 feet high, eight cataracts, of which one is 1,700 

 feet high, and five dome-shaped mountain peaks. No such 

 collection can be found elsewhere within the same area, and 

 they are accompanied by valley scenery of great beauty. The 

 general judgment of travelers has decided that Yosemite is 

 more worthy of a visit, for grand and picturesque scenery, than 

 any other place known to them. 



103. Opinions of Tourists. Some of these opinions are 

 worthy of record here. Prof. J. D. Whitney says : 



" The peculiar features of the Yosemite are : first, the near 

 approach to vertically of its walls ; next, their great height, 

 not only absolutely, but as compared with the width of the 

 valley itself; and finally, the very small amount of debris, or 

 talus, at the bottom of these gigantic cliffs. These are the 

 great characteristics of the valley throughout its whole length ; 

 but, besides these, there are many other striking peculiarities 

 and features, both of sublimity and beauty, which can hardly 

 be surpassed, if equaled, by those of any other mountain 

 scenery in the world." 



Horace Greeley wrote thus : 



" Of the grand sights I have enjoyed Rome from the 

 dome of St. Peter's the Alps from the valley of Lake Como 

 Mont Blanc and her glaciers from Chamouny Niagara 

 and the Yosemite I judge the last-named most unique 

 and stupendous. It is a partially-wooded gorge, one hundred 

 to three hundred rods wide, and 3,000 to 4,000 feet deep, be- 

 tween almost perpendicular walls of gray granite, and here 

 and there a dark yellow pine rooted in a crevice of either 

 wall, and clinging w T ith desperate tenacity to its dizzy eleva- 

 tion. The isolation of the Yosemite the absolute wilder- 



