6 
THE WILD SHEEP OF THE SIERRA. 
of the San Joaquin Yosemites, but its walls 
are sublime in height, rising at a bound into 
the thin sky two to four thousand feet 
above the river. At the head of the valley 
the main canon forks, as is found to be the 
case in all Yosemites. The formation of 
this one is due to the action of two vast 
ice-rivers, whose fountains lay to the east- 
ward, on the flanks of Mounts Humphrey 
and Emerson, and a cluster of nameless 
peaks farther south. On the slow reces- 
sion of those rock-grinding glaciers, at the 
close of the Glacial Period, this valley basin 
came to light : first a lake, then a sedgy 
meadow, then, after being filled in with 
flood and avalanche bowlders, and planted 
with trees and grasses, it became the Yo- 
semite of to-day — a range for wild sheep 
and wild men. 
The gray bowlder-chafed river was sing- 
ing loudly through the valley, but above its 
massy roar I heard the deep booming of a 
water-fall, which drew me eagerly on. 
Emerging from the tangled avalanche of 
groves and briers at the head of the valley, 
there in full view appeared the young 
San Joaquin fresh from its glacier fount- 
ains, falling white and free in a glorious 
cascade, between granite walls two thousand 
feet high. The steep incline down Avhich 
the glad waters thundered seemed to bar 
all farther progress. It was not long, how- 
ever, before I discoved a crooked seam in 
the rock, by which I was enabled to climb 
to the edge of a terrace that crosses the 
canon, and divides the cataract nearly in 
the middle. Here I sat down to take 
breath and make some entries in my note- 
book, taking advantage, at the same time, 
of my elevated position above the trees to 
gaze back over the valley into the heart 
of the noble landscape, little knowing the 
while what neighbors were near. 
After spending a few irregular minutes in 
this way, I chanced to look across the fall, 
and there stood three sheep quietly observ- 
ing me. Never did the sudden appearance 
of a mountain, or water-fall, or human friend, 
so forcibly seize and rivet my attention. 
Anxiety to observe accurately on so rare an 
occasion checked boisterous enthusiasm. 
Eagerly I marked the flowing undulations 
of their firm, braided muscles, their strong 
legs, ears, eyes, heads, their graceful, rounded 
necks, the color of their hair, and the bold, 
upsweeping, cycloidal curve of their noble 
horns. When they moved I devoured every 
gesture, while they, in nowise disconcerted 
either by my attention or by the tumultuous 
roar of the falling water, advanced deliber- 
ately alongside the rapids between the two 
divisions of the cataract, turning now and 
then to look at me. Presently they came to 
a steep, ice-burnished acclivity, which they 
ascended by a quick succession of short, 
stiff-legged leaps, reaching the top without 
a struggle. This was the most startling feat 
of mountaineering I had ever witnessed, 
and, considering only the mechanics of the 
thing, one's astonishment could hardly have 
been greater had they displayed wings and 
taken to flight. "Sure-footed mules" on 
such ground would have fallen and rolled 
like loosened bowlders. Many a time, 
where the slopes were far lower, I have been 
compelled to take off my shoes and stock- 
ings, tie them to my belt, and creep bare- 
foot with the utmost caution. No wonder 
•then that I v.atched the progress of these 
animal mountaineers with keen sympathy, 
and exulted in the boundless sufficiency of 
wild nature displayed in their invention, 
construction, and keeping. But judge the 
measure of my good fortune when, a few 
minutes later, I caught sight of a dozen 
more in one band, near the foot of the upper 
fall. They were standing on the same side 
of the river with me, distant only twenty- 
five or thirty yards, and looking as unworn 
and perfect as if created on the spot. It 
appeared by their tracks, which I had seen 
on the meadow, and by their present posi- 
tion, that when I came up the canon they 
were all feeding together down in the valley, 
and in their haste to reach high ground, 
where they could look about them to ascer- 
tain the nature of the strange disturbance, 
they were divided, three ascending on one 
side the river, the rest on the other. The 
main band, headed by an experienced chief, 
now began to cross the rapids. This was 
another exciting feat ; for, among all tiie 
varied experiences of mountaineers, the 
crossing of boisterous, rock-dashed torrents is 
found to be the most trying to the nerves. Yet 
these fine, brave fellows walked fearlessly to 
the brink, and jumped from bowlder to 
bowlder, holding themselves in perfect. poise 
above the whirling, confusing current, as if 
they were doing nothing extraordinary. 
The immediate foreground of this rare 
picture was glossy, ice-burnished granite, 
traversed by a few bold lines in which grew 
rock-ferns and tufts of healthy bryanthus, 
with the gray canon walls on the sides, 
nobly sculptured and adorned with brown 
cedars and pines. In the distance were lofty 
peaks dipping into the azure, and in the mid- 
