142 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 



ness of its sylvan solitudes, many miles from human settle- 

 ment or cultivation its cascade 2,000 feet high, though the 

 stream which makes this leap has worn a channel in the hard 

 bed-rock to a depth of 1,000 feet renders it the grandest 

 marvel that ever met my gaze." 



The opinion of Starr King was that 



" Nowhere among the Alps, in no pass of the Andes, and in 

 no cafton of the mighty Oregon range, is there such stupen- 

 dous rock scenery as the traveler now lifts his eyes to." 



The following is an extract from Samuel Bowles : 



" Indeed, it is not too much to say that no so limited space 

 in all the known world offers such majestic and impressive 

 beauty. Niagara, alone, divides honors with it in America. 

 Only the whole of Switzerland can surpass it no one scene 

 in all the Alps can match this, before me now, in the things 

 that mark the memory and impress all the senses for beauty 

 and for sublimity." 



104. The Leading Features. The tourists who enter the 

 valley by the trails that lead over the mountains, north and 

 south of the canon, obtain fine views just before commenc- 

 ing the descent. The chasm is seen winding away amidst 

 the cliffs ; a cascade is in sight, and numerous mountain-peaks 

 rise in various directions. At the bottom of the dell are the 

 meandering river, the green grass, and lofty trees diminished 

 to the appearance of shrubs. The Bridal Veil fall, seen on the 

 right, several miles distant, is a mere white streak on the face 

 of the rock, and does not appear grand in the least, but it is 

 nine hundred and forty feet high, and becomes imposing as 

 the traveler approaches it. The body of water is about seventy 

 feet wide on the first of June. 



Nearly opposite this cascade, on the northern side of the val- 

 ley, and about three-quarters of a mile distant, but apparently 

 much nearer when the tourist looks up at it, is the Capitan, (or 

 Captain) a rock projecting into the valley and rising up per- 

 pendicularly from the level green-sward three thousand 



