Photograph by Curtis & Miller 



WESTERN LOGS USED AS DREDGE TIMBERS AT PANAMA 



So superior are the trees of the West for masts that they are in demand in almost every 

 shipyard in the world. In the words of Muir : 'They are felled and peeled, dragged to tide- 

 water, raised again as masts and yards of ships, given iron roots and canvas foliage, deco- 

 rated with flags, and sent to sea, where in glad motion they go cheerily over the ocean prairie, 

 in every latitude and longitude, singing and bowing responsive to the same winds that waved 

 them when they were in the woods. After standing in one place for centuries they thus go 

 round the world like tourists, meeting many a friend from the old home forest; some travel- 

 ing like themselves, some standing head downward in muddy harbors, holding up the plat- 

 forms of wharves, and others doing all kinds of hard timber work, showy or hidden." 



an enormous frozen octopus, stretching 

 icy tentacles down among the rich gar- 

 dens of wild flowers and through forests 

 of fir and cedar (pp. 406, 408, 409, 427). 



THE YOSEMITE AND SEQUOIA NATIONAL 

 PARKS 



No words can adequately describe the 

 majescy and friendliness of the giant red- 

 wood trees of the Sequoia and Yosemite 

 National Parks, the stately granite domes 

 and sharp pinnacles, the roaring white 

 cascades, the deep, dark canyons ; the 

 fragrance of meadows carpeted with lu- 

 pine, columbine, evening primrose, mari- 

 posa lily, shooting - star, pride of the 

 mountain, etc., and the many sweet- 

 scented pines and cedars, among which 



are flitting countless songsters dressed in 

 as lovely colors as the flowers. 



In this fairyland, the lover of outdoor 

 life can camp for months in summer 

 without taking tent or raincoat, for it 

 never rains here in vacation time. 



Switzerland, the playground of Eu- 

 rope, visited annually (until 191 5) by 

 more than 100,000 Americans, cannot 

 compare in attractiveness with the High 

 Sierra of central California. Nothing in 

 the Alps can rival the famous Yosemite 

 Valley (pages 401, 416, 417), which is as 

 unique as the Grand Canyon. The view 

 from the summit of Alt. Whitney sur- 

 passes that from any of the peaks of 

 Switzerland. There are no canyons in 

 Switzerland equal to those of the Kern 



413 



