84 OUR NATIONAL PARKS 



sculptured region of primeval granite, which 

 best tells the story of the glacial period on the 

 Pacific side of the continent. No other moun- 

 tain chain on the globe, as far as I know, is so 

 rich as the Sierra in bold, striking, well-preserved 

 glacial monuments, easily understood by any- 

 body capable of patient observation. Every fea- 

 ture is more or less glacial, and this park portion 

 of the range is the brightest and clearest of all. 

 Not a peak, ridge, dome, canon, lake basin, gar- 

 den, forest, or stream but in some way explains 

 the past existence and modes of action of flow- 

 ing, grinding, sculpturing, soil-making, scenery- 

 making ice. For, notwithstanding the post- 

 glacial agents — air, rain, frost, rivers, earth- 

 quakes, avalanches — have been at work upon 

 the greater part of the range for tens of thou- 

 sands of stormy years, engraving their own 

 characters over those of the ice, the latter are so 

 heavily emphasized and enduring they still rise 

 in sublime relief, clear and legible through every 

 after inscription. The streams have traced only 

 shallow wrinkles as yet, and avalanche, wind, 

 rain, and melting snow have made blurs and 

 scars, but the change effected on the face of the 

 landscape is not greater than is made on the face 

 of a mountaineer by a single year of weathering. 

 Of all the glacial phenomena presented here, 

 the most striking and attractive to travelers are 

 the polished pavements, because they are so 



