SCENERY. 147 



to explain the formation of the valley. Professor J. D, Whit- 

 ney thinks that the bottom "sank down to an unknown depth, 

 owing to its support being withdrawn from underneath during 

 some of those convulsive movements which must have attended 

 the upheaval of so extensive and elevated a chain." That is 

 the subsidence theory. The glacial theory, that the glaciers 

 coming down the mountain side scooped out this immense 

 chasm, is advocated by John Muir, a geologist who has 

 spent much time in the Yosemite region. Nobody advocates 

 the theory of erosion. Ordinary water currents could not 

 have worn away walls so vertical and crooked as these, nor 

 could glaciers have done so, even if there had been an outlet. 

 I believe the fissure theory, but will attempt no argument for 

 it here. The rock split apart, and it still preserves the shape 

 that would follow a great crack in the solid crust of the earth. 

 The subsidence theory would do in the vicinity of a volcano, 

 and in a different rock formation ; but not in granite, high up 

 on a ridge that has never been volcanic in its character. 



108. Hetchhetchy. A chasm similar to Yosemite is 

 Hetchhetchy, twelve miles further north, on the Tuolumne 

 River. This valley is three miles long, half a mile wide, and 

 fenced in by granite cliffs from 1,500 to 2,500 feet high. There 

 are several fine cascades, including that of Hetchhetchy Creek, 

 1 ,700 feet high. The scenery bears a strong general resemblance 

 to that of Yosemite, but is on a smaller scale. Above Hetch- 

 hetchy Valley, the canon reaches thirty miles into the moun- 

 tains, with walls nearly vertical for a large part of the dis- 

 tance, and much remarkable scenery, including many high 

 cascades. 



On the south side of Mt. Whitney, King's River forms a 

 wonderful teaiion, more than a mile deep, with a level bottom, 

 in one place half a mile wide and ten miles long. 



. 109. Biy Tree Groves. The mammoth sequoias are 

 prominent features in the scenery of California. A tree three 

 hundred feet high and thirty feet thick in the trunk, is a great 



