A VISIT TO THE BIG TREES. 



BY DR CHE ABLE. 



(MAGA. FEB. 1866.] 



WE were in San Francisco, the Golden City of 

 California, the paradise of North Pacificans, 

 and there were many wonders to be seen gold and 

 silver mines, where hundreds of tons of quartz- 

 rock are crushed daily, and millions of dollars ex- 

 tracted yearly ; the cinnabar mine of New Almaden, 

 which supplies quicksilver to the whole world ; Yo- 

 Semite, the loveliest of valleys, where, amongst the 

 grand mountains of the Sierra Nevada, a river leaps 

 downs from a height of 2700 feet, and forms the 

 waterfall of the Bridal Veil, the highest in the world. 

 There were geysers, caves, the islands of the sea-lions, 

 and the " Mammoth Trees " ; there was a Russian fleet 

 in the harbour, "the Beautiful Menken" at the Theatre, 

 and the "Living Skeleton" at the Museum. We 

 were fairly bewildered by the multiplicity of strange 

 sights awaiting our curious eyes, uncertain which to 

 choose. After mature deliberation, we decided to 



