AMONG THE ANIMALS OF THE YOSEMITE 211 



back out. On its return to the light from one 

 of the very darkest of death valleys, it blinked a 

 moment with a sort of dazed look, then plunged 

 into a stream, apparently happy and well. 



Frogs abound in all the bogs, marshes, pools, 

 and lakes, however cold and high and isolated. 

 How did they manage to get up these high 

 mountains ? Surely not by jumping. Long and 

 dry excursions through weary miles of boulders 

 and brush would be trying to frogs. Most likely 

 their stringy spawn is carried on the feet of ducks, 

 cranes, and other waterbirds. Anyhow, they are 

 most thoroughly distributed, and flourish fa- 

 mously. What a cheery, hearty set they are, 

 and how bravely their krink and tronk concerts 

 enliven the rocky wilderness ! 



None of the high-lying mountain lakes or 

 branches of the rivers above sheer falls had fish 

 of any sort until stocked by the agency of man. 

 In the high Sierra, the only river in which trout 

 exist naturally is the middle fork of Kings River. 

 There are no sheer falls on this stream ; some of 

 the rapids, however, are so swift and rough, even 

 at the lowest stage of water, that it is surprising 

 any fish can climb them. I found trout in 

 abundance in this fork up to seventy-five hundred 

 feet. They also run quite high on the Kern. 

 On the Merced they get no higher than Yosemite 

 Valley, four thousand feet, all the forks of the 

 river being barred there by sheer falls, and on 



