In // '? Sierra 



ever yet enjoyed. Nearly all the upper basin 

 of the Merced was displayed, with its sublime 

 domes and canons, dark upsweeping forests, 

 and glorious array of white peaks deep in the 

 sky, every feature glowing, radiating beauty 

 that pours into our flesh and bones like heat 

 rays from fire. Sunshine over all; no breath 

 of wind to stir the brooding calm. Never 

 before had I seen so glorious a landscape, so 

 boundless an affluence of sublime mountain 

 beauty. The most extravagant description 

 I might give of this view to any one who has 

 not seen similar landscapes with his own 

 eyes would not so much as hint its grandeur 

 and the spiritual glow that covered it. I 

 shouted and gesticulated in a wild burst of 

 ecstasy, much to the astonishment of St. 

 Bernard Carlo, who came running up to me, 

 manifesting in his intelligent eyes a puzzled 

 concern that was very ludicrous, which had 

 the effect of bringing me to my senses. A 

 brown bear, too, it would seem, had been a 

 spectator of the show I had made of myself, 



