of money and appointed commissioners to settle with these persons for any damage they might 
sustain. The Yosemite Valley, therefore, is now a State Park, and those who occupy hotel build¬ 
ings, etc., are tenants of the State. 
Those who visit the valley will generally feel somewhat fatigued, and it is best to take things 
pretty easily the first day, especially if not accustomed to horseback riding. A ride up the valley 
to Mirror Lake, to see the reflection of the mountains in its glassy waters, will be both easy and 
pleasant, or a ride down the valley four miles to Bridal Veil Falls, where a stream leaps down 
nine hundred feet upon the rocks, scattering a silvery spray over the surrounding landscape, will 
well repay a visit. In the sunshine no more beautiful object was ever beheld on earth. We are 
enveloped in a rainbow atmosphere; every tree and shrub is tinted with its glorious colors, and 
every person surrounded and covered with a halo of glory. The next day it is well to commence 
work in earnest. Climb the mountains — to the upper Yosemite Falls, which leaps sixteen hundred 
feet, to Glacier Rock, or 
to the Nevada and Vernal 
Falls; but do not under¬ 
take too much in one day. 
The distances and heights 
are deceiving, and tire¬ 
some. It will require 
often four hours toiling 
to ascend a mountain 
three thousand feet in 
height. The landlords 
and guides are reliable,, 
and it is not well to be 
heedless of their advice. 
An English tourist— and 
there are no better and 
happier travelers than 
the English — was about 
to start one morning for 
one of the highest moun¬ 
tains, and would have no 
guide, would not even 
take a luncheon that was provided by our host, declaring against the protestations of host and 
friends that he would be back to dinner, and that Yankees were much given to exaggeration. 
About dusk we saw him return, hungry and weary. His first salutation was to the landlord; 
“Did I intimate this morning that you exaggerated in your statement of heights and distances; 
if so, I beg pardon.” 
On returning from an excursion to Glacier Rock, where in the latter part of June we had 
taken our luncheon upon a field of snow, nearly four thousand feet up towards the clouds, and 
drank of the rippling stream of ice-water constantly flowing towards the valley, it was suggested 
that as a photographer had pitched his tent in the valley it would be well to have our pictures 
taken, just as we were, though tired and dusty, under the shadow of the grand mountains, the 
North and South Dome. This photograph we have copied, as it will perhaps give a better idea of 
the mountains and the mode of travel than anything we have before given. The South Dome is 
4*737 feet ki height. Having climbed the mountains every day for five days, we were a little 
weary and not at all indisposed to a quiet day, so we thought we would interview the Indians. 
There are a few Indians in the valley. The younger men, or rather boys, show some little 
enterprise, as they catch fish regularly and dispose of them at the hotels. The older ones seem 
only to barely exist. The njen only breathe and eat. The women provide all the food, and 
their bill of fare is not very extensive or luxurious, unless an old horse or cow belonging to some 
of the hotels happens to die, which provides them with a glorious feast. Their principal food 
is acorns, of which they make palatable cakes and bread and mush. They manufacture excellent 
three-cornered baskets of grass or rushes, which are placed on the backs of the women who pick 
8 
SITTING FOR A PHOTOGRAPH. 
