The New York Herald Newspaper, July 23, 1858, Page 2

oOo -_ Meoced in the eame way, det of course with atill more perl). m THROUGH OFIO, LXDIANA AND ILLINOIS. Bet lot us hurry on. We will not stop to talk about the Deavty of Cincinnati, the Queen City of the West, or of the fertility of the sdjacent country. We dash along the | ‘Wwe regions, and wish the grape gatherers an overfiow- tog vintage. Through Indiana and Southera Illinvis— Egy pt, as it ts called for a reproach to its backwardness— you speed along, admiring here the primitive fores! where — im'the thickening eettlers begin to make gaps, there a | prairie, strotobing far along in limitiess feids of corm, end | im another place rivers darkened by the overbanging ‘trees, rushing on to pay their trivute to the mighty Mis- “slestypi. These fresh scenes of natare m:ke « delightful impression op the minds of those who see them for the first time, and would of themselves empiy repay a trip to & Lous, } THE PACIFIC RAILBOAD. Of again from that bustling, thriving city, with its NEW YORK HERALD, FRIDAY, JULY 23, 1858. terms: being the samo es those of the St, Nicholas of | servable. At no place between here and New Mexico, Broadway. Another of the party had, some months pre- viously, eogsged the same sleeping accommodations in company with .n ex-Governor of K-nsas, his daughter, @ Diack waiting maid, the eid-de-camp, secretary and Coachman. Those who have thus stopped at the Big Stranger Hotel will no; easily forgot thst pleasant incident of their travel. na lel ACROBS But, after all, from Leavenworth to Lecompton is only ‘an episode in the grand route—a branch off—for the sake Of seeing Lecompton and its visa-vis over the Kausss re- jolcing in the original appellation of the Rising San. The j pa wget the Plains, where the Jong line of white tented wagons wind their course to tne Great Basin -nd to its Mormon capital, through tae passes of the Rocky Mountains, and thence around the pyramida! peaks of the Sierra Nevada to the amiling}valloys of the ‘Sacramento and the San Joaquin, until, like ‘the last of bis race” in that beautiful painting in the gallery of the Smith piers biackezed with thousands of funnols, and not a sin- gle mast or sail to be seen upon its waters—off by the great Pacific Railroad to the capital of the State of Missouri. Jefferson City—passing the town of Hermann, with its Populatior of German vinegrowers, and crossing the Osage by that fatel bridge which gave way under the tra:n of excursionists who were celebrating the opening of the road, and occasioned such a terrible loss of life. Jefferson City is the presons terminus of the road; but the grading is still going on, and will probably be con tinued slong the Oesawatomie Valley in Kansas, 00 as to obviate, for imtenaing settlers, the nocessity of ascending the Missouri river. In the meantime, however, we must @vail ourselves of the facilities offered. UP THR MISSOURI. Lo, the Ameneoad cance that steadily breasts the ‘Missouri | —As Longfellow in bis Hiawatha describes those huge tripic-decked fatboats that steam up the muddy flats of that cooentric river—is wating at the pter to take on board the passengers of the Pacific Raitroad. Al! rash on board, without regard to politeness, each beanton being among the Sret at the little wiudow whoereat the capimia’s clerk iseues tickets for staterooms; for the rule is here, as at Nibio’s—“first come first served,’ and consequently he who rushes over women ana children aod remorse- leas}y elvows bis way through the crowd surroaad- tog the ticket office, is sure to get a berth, while the modest or timid man that does act wish to bave his sites stove in or his pockets picked, has the consolation of knowing in the course of an | hour or so that all the state rooms are occupied, bat that be caa have a mattress on deck. For the three or four days which it takes the “ Big Thunder Canoe’’ to get as far up as Leavenworth City, the tourist has plenty of leieure to recal! the scenes past whioh be was whirled in the railroad cars. The scenery of the river itself coon becomes monstonous. Its banks on Gither side are low and composed of frieble mud, large cakes of whiob, with the trees standiag upon thea, are va- etantly flaking off, as the progress of the boat displaces and agitates the water, and adding to the abundant sup- ply of suags, and sawyers, and saad bars which tes! the skill, ingenuity, and patience of the two pilots im the wheelbouse. Sometimes the pilois iry ome side of the river, or ope uhannel between snags, marshalled, as it were, to bar fartaoer progress, ‘and they find that since the last trip tae channel has beea filled up with the ever falling mud, and that th Bo thoroughfare there. Then the appliances that they bare for lifting the boat over such obstacles are put into reqai sition. A mast, or acozple of masts, suspended ia the forward part of the veseel, ts or are unsiung, and ope rating them in toe manner of s pair of cratches, by placing the weight of the boat partiy upon them, etexm is applied, the wheels revolve, and the draugat boiog somewhat lessened, the boat is driven over the mad bank, amid the cheers of the passengers and bands, who arc amused at the fruitiess efforts of half a dozen otner boats to get over the same impediment to navigation. ‘This, and wooding every two or three hours at desolate looking points along the river, and calling at occasiousl stopping places, where every masculine thing in tne vil lage comes out and gazes listlessly at the boat, while it Keeps its two hands resolutely buried im its breeches pockets, as ifthe hands were not fit to be seen or never bad any work to do, constitute the deck incidents of the day. Within, knots of passengers are gathered wrovad the tables, playing poker, sledge, vingt'ua sad « variety of other games, until the preparations of the waiters for meals deprive them of the tabies and send them out oo deck FEATURES OF THE RIVER Bat though the Missouri river lies so tow and is so shal low and muddy, those lines of casteliated walls far away back on etther side, with their faces smooihed or furrowed, or worn into fantastic shaves by the aztion of water, carry the mind away back into the far ages of the past, and speak to it of a mighty river of which those towering walls of limestone were the Danke, and the surface of which—if these walis were not since upheaved by volcanic or other agency—murt hare Of the mind—thas if the river had ever flowed in suck ao altie those parallel I'nes of rock evidence, the wn >| valley of the Mississippi must have Deen submorged, and those rolling prairies of Kansas that are now inviting the settler by their nexhaustidle fertility, must have bees ac ocean, of which the Rocky Mountains were the coast. Socb speculations as these afford ampie material for toe mind of the tworist,and are aided rather than cisturbed by the Appearance of troops of wading gannots along the shoals, by flights of wild ducks, by the diving of dippers, aad by the cconcional bounding of @ deer through the woods ‘These are the general characteristics of the Missouri, aod though the trip may at first appear monotonous aod tise groeable, its remiziscences come Yack to the miad with pleagure acd cratidcation. LEAVENWORTH CITY. by @ ww and Independence ant K aly towns of any importaace oa the line of tae arrive at Leavenworth Three years ago wasan Indian reservation. Today it is an ambitious city, where town lots sell at from three to six thousand dovars. The Mlanters’ Hotel—a large a ordinarily fair house—com mands the levee, and « few hundred yards north of 1 ls the spring, by the river's side, where, about s year ago, a stranger was enticed, robbed, mar dered and thrown into the Missouri—the tragedy wiadieg up by the banging of two of his murderers by the citizens, ané we breaking up of a den of counterfeivers and Teuders. Higher up om the road t Lecompton is tac house ta which Phillips was shot by the Kickapoo rang» s, for daring to come back to his bome alver they nad tarred and feathered him, removed him trom the ferritory and warned him not to return. Other traces and ren) miscences of the Kansas war may be had in and aroucd Lecompton. But sow all is changed. fhe excitemont has wubsiced. Pollsies are at @ discount, fradiag and laad Speoulnting supply their place. The city is growing ate wouderfu. pace—es Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis grew fend & generation bence \t may not ees | them | Peas: A PRAIRIB ST. NICHOLAS, | Whichever route you take from | aveaworth, southward — or westward, bes ite charms. Lecompton, the former | capital of the Territory, and famous as the piace where the constitution Of which we have heard so much was |” framed, lies some thirty miles southwest of it. A ride there brings you over & rolting prairie, flanked by belts ot Umber land, whch mark the devious course of streams, and conveying the idea of © demesne lait out with the wtmost taste. A more rica and besetifu: tracy of innd the «cn does notebine upon. About two thirds of (ne distance brings you to the St. Nicholas Hote! of that region, «log cabin, sheltered by trees and +itusted oa the bark of what & known as the Big Stranger—s stream whose bed « dry in the eummer season. Here you Gua bait for yourself and cattle; and rade as are «il the appurtenances of the place, you will fad the tavie well popplie@, acd your wante properiy attended to oy the wi'e and daughters of the proprietor, while tue sous are atvending t your horses, and the sire, a fae spect men of « Kentucky farmer, i# plying you with questions or keeping you in conversation. There are some bat pieces of road beyond tne house, and parties arriving there ts Mo evening wuslly spend the night there. Tho acoomn.otations are of the most primitive kind. The Rdtei hes two apartments—one Guswere for kKuonen, din ing bal’, and bedroom for ® married soe and tne juntor Drasctes of the house. Tue other is ths reeling room #0 to fey, Where guewty meet and chat around tne wae arth © | where the allaira Of (98 nation are discussed vf ising two beds-o0e for the old ooaple and oe angeters, (2) oiher for the growo ap an iy. Thy bor 6 stick thomseives wherever ” wom for + obe fhe guests, o> mat ‘ + aber, fine eg arrangemosats in this ha reat, whice ton feet by eight. | ‘ue in apace by thewpreading of mat | tm so Wall to Wall, cy © Ph eFerY epare articis are of quilts ead stretehed, aed oo | o* qoente apread thes re res, to within a few ‘ ( the Greplace, (9 an clo.e comptes ae possibie « 5 of eaght, of waom the writer was one, #0 fared ace oageh im Whe Sh Niabolna Of the Big Sirnager—the exe | tonian Institution, we stand by the heiving waters of the far Pacific. Tbatis the route of routes—thegrand tour, in- deed— something to live for, something to remember. Other trips are but the saunterings of children; this is one for bold men and not easily daunted women, who love nature in its grandest developements, and who have plenty of ume and money at their dispesal. LEAVENWORTH TO FORT KEARNEY. ‘The route taken by the troops that weresoat to Utah is, of course, the nearest and best. It lies straight across the Piains. With the heavy, lumbering baggage the travel was a slow and a fatiguing one. It need not de so when a party is heavy im pocket and ligat in baggage, The incidents of the trip only give zost to it. The eold gusty wind, driving down from the Rocky Movntains in sleet and snow, is one of the désagriments of the Plains; but travellers soon Jeara to look lightly upon all such, and grow strong aod enduricg from being exposed to them. It may be somewhat mo. notonous and wearisome to ride for days ove a level tract of country, exposed to the colt winds or toth» burning sua but endurance isa most necessary part of our otucation, ‘and we ought cocasionally to practice taat q ality. @Hore at length isa break in the journey—an oasis i 1 the desart — Fort Kearney, with its score or twe of low adobe buili- ings, ranged in @eemicircle and defended by howitzer, field pieces, and a species of artillery desiguated biozs- house guns. It is several thousand feet above the level of the sea, and so exposed to the flerce winds of the desert that instances of men being blown away by sudden gusts are not rare. Wolf chases and baffalo bunts are among the amusements furnished by Fort Kearney, and ‘a week or so may be spent not unpleasantly at this rest- ing place. Our expeditionary indalged in a budalo hunt here, on his way to Utah—killed his bull, and saw immenee herds of game oa the South Platte. ON TO FOBT LARAMIE. But “it is not always May,” end pleasures cannot last forever, So truce to the chace of the shaggy buifalo and the fleet antelope, and once more let us continue our route westward. The next stopping place |: Fort Lara- mie; but that is distant some two weeks’ trayol With meo and animals refreshed by the halt, the journey ap- pears lees fatiguing. We are now habituated to sleeping in tents or wagons, and are not 20 easily scared by dis- tant cr immediate peri's. Some fording has to be done, ana the South Fork of tne Platte river is not always ford- able. Patience again: more adventures. Wecan wait for a day or two, for tue rivers fall and rise very quickly in this region. Aud we do wait, and are able to cross in safety, On, stifon, over the prairie, past the wild and pictureeque bluffs iying between the South Piatte and the North Piast ¢, with their tops kiseiog the clouds, and down by a precipiious steep at Ash Hollow, the gate of a little valley through which s crystal streamlet flows, Of in the distance are the lodges of the Sioux Indians, @ most sangu nary borde of savages, but now a! poace with their Great Father at Washington. CHIMNBY ROCK AND SCOTT'S BLUFFS. Abead of us is Chimney rock, where we will encamp for the night, looking like one of the Irish round towers that have perplexed antiquarians; or, as Mr. Fremont eays more correctly, lime the shot tower in Baltimore. It seems but a mile distant, while in reality it is six times the distance. Those monumenia! works of pstare, raised in the vast solitades of the far West, are as won- cerful as they are awe-inspiring Scott's Bluffe te the name given to @ collection of similar monuments lying some distance from Chimney rock. They are five or six in number, are of irregular shape, almost perpendicular; And, standing close together, though not connected, they m ght be taven, in the distance, for a group of dilapidated casties, Having reached fort Laramie, the traveller may again rest, for he has performed over half the journey be- tween Leavenworth and Salt Lake City. Only 512 miles Ue between him and the Mormon Mecca, while he has left the pearest point of Eastern civilization 619 miles be- bind. Bus let as get on at once to the Great Basin, leaving Fort Bridger and Camp Scott behind, and not staying to search for that wonderful crystal rock which Mr. Bridger affirms be discovered once 'n the Piains—perfectly trans- parent, and rising thousands of feet perpendicularly above the level desert sand. We rather think that that is a tra- veller’s story, which all who wish to believe it may believe. Future travelers to Sait Lake will, however, | provabiy pursue a route different from that we have sketcned. PONTAINE-QUB-BOUILLE. Captain Marcy, who bad lea a2 expedition into New Mexico to procure cattle and provisions for the’troops to Utah, returned by a new rou\e, which, it is said, is a hun- dred miles sborter aod @ thousand per cent better in every way for grass, wood, richness of woil, &0. One of his command, writing to u# from Cache la Poudre creek, whore, tradition bas it, a French trapper concealed his amrrvaition ¢n one oceasion, thus speaks of the Fontaine- Assit |, We were obliged to remain an entire month upen a tributary of the arkansas, called Fontaine qoo- Bowiile, wher e the time in bunting aoa in ig tbe water of the fountaw from which the suream derives 'ts name. My travels mrough our aosettied Ter Titory have boon somewhat extended, yet I bave never ‘with greas force direct!y from beneath ibe centre of tas revervoir, keeping it constantly filed, but never to overflowing and it resombies ap artificial fouatain more Water aro we hed no means of determining. Il my taste, a great similarity toCongreas bu agreeably pungeut and delicate; aod lecasity was accessible to the ‘Staten It wou d soon become more One of the camp foliowers, who placed the spring and piaoted a hill of core, wih some fature day, sabe our camp it afford. euntenag 6 pre on ot impressed with {1 . Quien As game abounded ip the riomity of od the votaries of N: ally suppued with the choicest (A PTORM LS THE ROCKY MOU STAIVG elcmest cessation for sixty consecative ibe pabuc @nimals were guarded, as was customary. both day and night, by armed men. who were coatinnaliy rieing around toem aod keeping them togecher. Yot, th spite of the utmost sndeavors of the herdemen, about three hundred horser and mules stam, yd ran fran. woally @way Bib tne wi for tity miles before they couid be stopped or turned. Of three mea who went off with thems animals, one poor felow was found dead upon the prairie after the siorm, white the other two were badly frozen and o very near per@ting They had no food for four days. when discovered were Crawiing sbout upon their beads aod Rnees in @ state Of great phy ical prostration and mental derangement. They were brought into o and are pow rapidly recovering. Another ian became bew|idered ys in the snow and perished within two buadred yaras of the camp, and snother was found about three miles from the camo, where he hed medea fire, and probably laid down in « siate of exhaustion and went tosicep. When foucd nis body was almost entirety consumed vy the fire. Horses, males and oxen perwhed during toe conti quanc> of the storm; but what we rene most remark wie, evera) antelope were foand after the storm. Tals aolinal is a native of the Piains, and pamses tae coldest winters upon the mort elevated places, never seeking the cover of umber. Me is clothed with s heavy costing of long bair, end is coasidered one of the most hardy aui- mais of the Went, and ie probably capadie of enduring as gi emt & degree of cold aa any othor animal. COAL DEPOSITS AND PLENTY OF GAME. Where Capain warey crossed the Rocky Mountains \t was impossible to tell there were any mountaine—it was a perfect plain, for at leas, one handred miles across the very summit of the Rocky Mountains i} was impossible to tell where the highest point was, or where the dividing tinge Detwoon the Atlantic and Pacific waters was. Nor was sue ascent or djecous from jhe moualiag hardly ob ‘ OO OO aye Captain Marcy, need loaded w goms campa single night without good grees and water in any season of tho ond sugg’sted fo him Le avming tho g vot the “Plc sountains ' THE STANDING BOCK. year. On end in the vicinity of Bitter creek he found ex-| not ¢r great nat wal curiosity in this region is x olum- tensive deposits of bituminous col, and oa the very high- | BAF FO. of greathe ght, standing in the centre of + moun- ost summits of the Rocky Mount:ins a bird which was not | ‘in pxr. 1: is knowm os tho Standing Rook, ond is before known to exist in the United States. It was a spe Clea of ptarmigan, being about the size of the New England phese-at, and as perfectly white +s the driven snow. ‘Three of four of the birds go together like prairie hous. Two of them were killed and sent to the Smithsouiaa Institute, Washington. Prof. Baird, of that institute, considered them & Very great acquisition, and s:ii thy have veen known to exist in the British possessions north of us, in high iati- tudes end on lofty mountains, but this is the first time they were ever known to exist in the United States. Capt. Marcy killed great quantities of game, such as grizzly bear, mountain sheep, elk sntelope, ani door, on his re- tarn trip. : BY FRAZER RIVER TO UTAH. Frazer river is about as femous a point as thoro ts te- day on the earth’s surface—as famous as were the Mari- supposed to have fallen from the cliffs sbove. Here it stands in rolltery gr nicur, ke & giamt sentinel of the pws. SUBTERRANEAN RIVER, From the (reggy site of am escarpment, two thirds from the top, a subterranean river bursts out, and falls ia white foam into the stream which flows at the base of the revine. Tnis is another of those wonders that abound in this extraordinary region. BASALTIC COLUMNS. A remarkeble hill of columnar basalt jets up from the Columbia river, the top bramohing out into two per- perdicalar columas, supported on pedestals. They look from tho distance iike the ruins of a grand old Norman caste, THE DALLES OF THE COLUMBIA pose diggings in 1848, or the Victoria gold mines in 1853. Is well worth a visit. The whole volume of the Columbia It is now the contre of attraction for the adventurous of all countries. St. Pauland San Francisco are quarrelling river pasees, a} ibis place, between the walls of a chasm which bas the appearance of having been rent through as to which fe most adjacent to these new gold mines, end | the basaitic strata which form the valloy-rock of the as to which sball have the profi! of tradieg with | region. fhe name was given by Cuntdian voyageur, them. And from these regions, hitherto unknown | 0dsignifesatrovgh. The rock, for a considerable dis. save to the Indians, it pow appears that there tance from the river, is worn into circular holes and fe road across the Rocky Mountains at the | CAvaties by the abresion of the river, which st high valley of Salt Lake. bishop of Oregon, speaks in the most enthusiastic terms Father De Smet, the Catholic water spreads over the adjacent bottoms, THE PYRAMID LAKE of the valleys of the Peaco and Athebasca, which ocoupy | Is another very wonderful and most beautiful curiosity in the eastern bago of the Rocky Mountains, from Jat. 65 | this region of wonders. An immense rock, presenting an deg. to lat- 59 deg., and from which the Great Basin can exact outline of the Pyramid of Cheops, rises to the height be reached by wegons. These valleys share the Pacific | of 600 feet out of a beautiful lake, to which it gives its climate ins remarkable degree, contain forests and prai- | name, Even the Indians look on it with awe, ries in equ:] proportion, and are rich in minerals as they are in soil. Dr. King, who had traversed them on ap ex- THE PASS IN THE SHBRRA NEVADA, The pags through which Fremont crossed the Sierra pedition in search of Sir John Ross, was reminded of them | Nevada into California was 9,338 feet above the sea. It on reading Dr. Livingstone’s description of a splendid | was 2,000 fect higher than the nouth pass in the Rocky Country in the interior of Africa, within the equator; and compared the timber with ‘the magnificent trees around Kensipgton Park, London.” The route there from Pembina, in Minnesota, lies among well weoded hills, having on all sides small lakes, some of them salt, abounding in wild fowl. again, and wolves and foxes ere rather more pleaty than is deatrabie. THE BUTTES-AUX-CHIENS. On this route is another wonderful nstural monument called the Butte-aux-Chiens, or dog knoll, rising toa height of 400 feet over » boundless prairie, level and smooth as a Mountains, and there were several poaks in view rising still thonsands ef feet higher. Thus, at the ex- twemitygof the continent, and near the const, the Phenomenon was seen of a range of mountains etill higher than the great Rocky Mountains themselves, This oxtra- Bands of antelope cross the route overy now and | ordinary fact accovated ‘o his mind for the existeace of the Great Basin, and proved that there must be & system 0’ small lates an! rivers here ecattered over a flat couc- trv, and which the extended ond lofty rango of the Sierra Nevace prevents from escaping to the Pacific ocean. GIGANTIC TREES. It would be 4 needless task to attempt to inform our Pond, and covered with an alluvial sot! of great fertility. | ressers of the beauty of -he valleys of Sarram nto and Here too, are found a great variety of birds, comprising geese, loons, pelicans, ducke, cranes, two kinds of snipe, bawks, owis and gulls; but all remarkably shy. The road ies through a beautiful country, with lofty fills and long valleys full of sylvan lakes, while the bright green of the surface, ss far as the eye can reach, assumes a foreign tinge under an uninterupted profusion of roses and bluebells. On the summit of one of those hills there is a magnificent prospect. One range of heights rises behind another, each becoming fainter as it recedes from the eye, till the farthest is (leuded in almost indis- tinguishable confusion with the clouds, while the softest vales spread « panorama of hanging copses and glittering Inkes at the feet of the spectator. THR ROCKY MOUNTAINS. Colonel Fremont made his celebrated reconnolsance of this region in 1842. He speaks of the ascent of the Rocky Mountains by the South Passas beivg so gradual that even Kit Corson, their guide, did not kaow when he got to the summit, and compares it to the gradual elevation of Capitol Hill, in Washington city. In his diary, under the date of August 10, he writes:—The air at sunrise is clear and pure, and the morning extremely cold, but beautiful. A lofty snow peak of the mountain is glittering in the first rays of the sun, which bas not yet reached us. The long mountain wall to the East, rising two thousand feet abruptly from the plain, behind which we see the peaks, is still Gark, aod cuts clear against the glowing sky. The scenery becomes hourly more interest- ing and grand, andthe view here is truly magnifi- cent. The sun has just shot above the wall, aad makes a magical change. The whole valley is glowing and bright, and all the mouvtain peaks are gleaming like | silver. Though these s20w mountains are not the Alps, they havo their own character of grandeur and magaifi- cience. * a * Here a view of the utmost magnift- cence and grandeur buret upon onr eyes. With nothing Detween us and their feet to leseen the effect of tho whole heigh’, a grand bed of snow capped mountains rose before us, pile upon pile, glowing in the bright light of an Avgustday, * * far off views, which have lent such a glory to the Alps, that these impress the ming, San Joaquin, azd of the grandeur of tho whole svenory of California. Neither is it necessary to speak at length ot tha gigantic cypress trees which have been discovered in Mariposa and one or two other sections of the country—trees beside which the spire of Trinity chursh is dwarish, and through one of whose trunks, when hollowed out, six horsemen baye ridden abreast, These are objects of wonder which of themselves should attract travellers. They stsnd wide apart from each othor, and are usually fee from limbs to the height of fifty or sevonty foot, so that uncer their shade ¢bjects can bo seen for a great dis'acce. Ina grove of them visited by Mr. Blake there were eaid to be one hundred and ninety trees, but of these there were only some twenty of gigantic proportions. Theee have recetved fanciful names, such as Father of the Forest, Beauty of the Forest, Pioncer Cabin, Three Sis- ters, Old Maid, Mammoth, &. They range from 300 to 360 feet iu height. One of them was cut down by ‘boring through it with pump augers, about six feet from the ground, and the operation occupied five men for three weeks. The circumference of the Mammoth was found to be ninety-four feet, giving thirty-one feet as its diameter. It is believed in the locality that they are 3,000 years old; but by an examination of the rings of one, Mr. Blake was eatistied that it could not have been more than 1 years old. 4 THE GREAT CAVE. About eighteen miles from this groveis situated the mining town of Cave City, It is so called from a grea cave in the vicinity. It wasexplored by Mr. Blake. He found it to consist of a series of passages and chambers of great extent, several of them being lined with stalac- tites and stalagmites of great beauty. Tho stalactites reach in some places from the roof to the floor, forming grottoes, with alabaster like walls, which present a splon- did appearance when li; up by candles. CURIOUS GROLOGICAL FACT. It is w very curious and snggestive fact that boulders, ‘those erratic stoner, sometimes of imm-_are sizs, which * Itisnot by the splendor of bave no connection whatever with the geology of the lo- cality, are nct found in the valleys of California, although Dinh by & gigantic disorder of ho, are found all over the Atiaatic States and in almost enormous masses, and #40, sublimity of naked rock | every otber portion of the globe, transported by some in wonderful contrast with innumerable green spots of a rich floral beauty shut up in their stern receases. THE TROIS TETONS. On one side, says Col. Fremont, we overlooked inpu- merable lakes and streams—the springs of tae Colurado of the Gulf of California; and on the other was the Wind River valley, where wore the heads of the Yellowstone trcmendoas force, or perhaps by icebergs from Newfound- jand to Ireland, from the Shetland Isles to Norway, from Sweden to Livonia and Prussia, from Canada to New York, and from Northern New York to Long Island. Dr. Aptisell, ihe geologist to the last Pacific Railroad survey- ing party, noticed that fact, aud remarks that over the extensive plains east of the Sierra Nevada, in Tulare val- branch of the Missouri. Far tothe north we could just ley, in the pleasant little onk valleys of the coast, or on discover the enowy heads of the Trois Tetons, where were the terrace plains cf the shore, not a single boulder is to the sources of the Missouri and Columbia rivers; andat be met with—not a stone from whieh the plough might the southern extrem'ty of the were pisinly visible among which were some of the springs o the Nebraska or Platte river, Around us, the whole scone had one main striking feature, which was that of terribie conval cion. Parallel to ite length the ridge was split into chasis and fissures, between which rove the thin, lofty walis, terminated with slender mivarets and columas. * ‘We nad climbed the lottiest peak of the Rocky Mountains, and looked down upon the snow & thousaud feet below, end, stanaing where never bumae {ort had stood before. felt the exuitation of first explorers. * © At one point of the canon the red argiliaceous eandatoue rose la | & wall of five huaared feet, surmounted by a stravum of white paadstone, and in an opposite ravine a columa of red sandstone rose, in form like a steeple, about one hun dred and fifty feet high. The sceuery was extremely pic- turesque, and notwithatanding our forlora condition, we were frequently obliged to stop aud admire it Between two walls Of ibe mountain, apparcatiy reai asucder by an earthquake, and which tower up ikea gate of the Thane, there gush out eight or ten hot springs of ro hgh @ temperature that Fremoat could oaly keep bia neno in the water for two seconds, aud each discharg. jog ttwelf by « considerabie stream. They issue from a strata of fine white calcare sus sandstone, which is covered with an incrustation[of common salt. In alter years the alte of these tprings will be the Saratoga of the West THE GREAT BASIN. ‘The valley lying between the Sierra Nevada and the Rocky Mountains # now know as the Great Basia, or the Valley of the Salt Lake, although ie very ox istence was, till late years, only advanced asa theory. Ite diameter is some five hundred miles each way. It stands some four or five thousand feet above the ieve: of the sea, is hemmed in by an amphitheatre of moustains, and has ite own system of lakes and rivers, having no coo boandary ine uboroken cutlice upon ihe distaat horiz. nection whatever with the ses. The rim of this basin, says Col. Fremont, ie massive range: of mountains, of which the Sierra Nevada on the west, and the Wahsatoh and Timpanogos chains on the east, aro the mort conapicu- ous. Since Fremont made known its existence, in 1946, it haa been selected as the home of the Laver Day Salata, and the Great Sait Lake City, which was their capital, has ‘been for the iast twelve months the destination of a inili- tary expedition, sent out there to bring those same | Sainte into subjection to the laws, and to compel them to respect the dictates of decency and civilization. ‘That bas directed the attention of the world towards thie valley. Ite characteristic features are a number of lakes, many of them salt; s number of rivers, which either empty themselves into the lakes or are lost in the sands or belts of allovion, and a very remarkable succession of solated peaks and sbort ridges, known as |.ost Mountains. THE PLACR OF FOUNTAINS. Tt alzo contains a considerable number of bolling and other very remarkable mmeral springs. bottom grounds are @ collection of springs to which, for thelr eflervescing gaa and acid taste, the trappers hare given the wame of the Reer, or Soda Spring. There {1 arother most remarkabie one, to which Fremont and his party gave the name of Steamboat Spring. It formea jet @'cam, thrown up to the height of about three fest, at regular intervals, and |: ia accompanied by a subterracean noise, which, with tne water, conveyed something like | 10 8°84 the idea of asieamooat. It isa hot spring, the water having ‘& pungent and disagreea die motalic taste, loa ving a buraiog effect on the tongue. Within, perhaps, iwo yards of the jet ean, enys Col. Fremont, ia a email hole, of adont an inoh in diameter, through which at regular intervals eeoapes a blast of hot air, with a light wreath of smoke, Accompanied by aregular note. Heace ite name of Steam. boat Spring. Smelling the gas produced a sensation of giddiness and nausea, All around thik bottom Fremoat discovered boiling springs, end im come instances re ridge the peaks } | i ) geologists, botanists rally, Cubvernia is full of interest. ANCIENT LAKE IN THE COLORADO DRSERT. Mr. Biake, the goologist of Lieutenant Williamson's ex- Ppedition to survey a ratiroad, in 1865, bas noticed the fact ‘hat (be Colerado desert has once been covered by water. The water line can be distine:ly traced on the face of tho rocks which ence formed ite beundary, and along the mountain sides, following all the apgles and sinnosities of ine rlges for many miles, The evidences of s former submergen ve were vivid and conclusive to every one in the train. Tbe Conuilla Indians have a tradition of agreat water that covered the whole valley, aud was filled with flee Osh acd much freyuested by water fowl. They say what toe! fathers lived in the mountains, and used to come down to the Iske to fish and hunt. The water gra- cuaily subsided, aud after it bad disappeared their vil- leges were moved own into the valley. Toe waters, they aay, once a Mea’ bapmeng «A overwhoeltned many of ie people, atfa drove the rest pack to the mouatains. ISLANDS IN THE DESRAT. Ineular messes of rounded rocks, piled one upon another to a considerable beight, occur here and there threagh out thie desert. Toey may bave once formed the bases for isiands. Corious openings have been worked tuto thom by the action of the water which once covered tho pula. Mr Blake, in bis description of them, says:— When wandering over these great masses of rock, aod standing om the ouce au)-aquesns gullerive and wits welr eens and ceiiegs of the coral ike crost, tne suria.en locked 80 wew acd fresh that It wae pot diMfealt to imagine that | beard the mearured swell of tho wares Tesouoding ta vhe dim caverns, and [t was imposslbie to resist @ few ‘ng u' droad that the great walle might sud- oenly tetera andclaia ther former sway over the de- serted baila. THE GRBAT COLORADO DRSERT— SUNSET. From these rocks—coovioues Mr Siake—I optained a Sine view of the great cerert, stretohing off towards the soutbeest, a wide, apparsniiy limitless plain, its oaly |, and eaturalists gene. Not a green spot in ail this wide expanse was to b9 see toe bold mountains sear mo were pot only freerrom trees, but there was not evom earth to cover the rocks. The mountains opposite extended cf towards the east until they #ere lost to sight in a series of iow summits of aceep blue color. The intensity colors of the distant bile was very strixi besatifal Sive, purpie and red were their pre Mute, aod thetr clea: see» ami cep bh were rema They were thie variety and intensity of color appeara to be peculiar to that region, snd is probabiy the resuit of the extreme pority aoa ar) ness of the ere, which may bs coo fidered a# almost free from the vapor of waver. Tk is 80 tranaperent that srma'l objsots can be soon distinetly at - opposite range was jn shadow, & peculiar effect upos the ar overhead ae visible, the w! Dive vaalt seemed traversed by bands of light and shade; in fact, the shadows of the mounteins were projected upwards into the air, forming rays of light and shade, and there was so littie difference and retraction of the lignt that they were distinctly visible. These shadows, although ie reality Le bey juaily converge, unti) they were uni point was bras depths of the air, thus affording « sub- Hime illustration of the laws of perspective. What is sunset as seen from the White Mountains or the Alps, in comparison with ite grandeur as seen from the great Colorads desert) Such @ spectacle would more than compensate for ali the discomforts of travelling, to wit- ness it. THE MIRAGE. ‘That wonderfal optical delusion peculiar to deserts ex hibits itself in the great Colorado desert in the most pleturesque shapes, Forms ot mountains or butldings are mored the clay to allow the water to spout, The springs | dolincated by this mirage upon the edge of the desert babbied ap from small conical «kaped hills, like rol and tall blue columns, castios, towers and cathedra! qances, mig tba} Moy gave out bot water instead of inva, | aptres, with their outlines distinotiy projected aga‘ass the morning sky, are undergoing constant change, becoming lower or higher, or occasionally +preading out like a cross or merging together in one grand pile. A GEM-COVERED PLAIN. A plain in the vicinity of Pilot Knob, which dominates the Great Colorado desert, is literally paved with bril- Mantly polished pebbles of agate, jasper, variously col- ved porphyries, greenstenc, and cornelian. They vary im pize from a hickory nut to @ hen’s egg, few of them being larger than am egg. The surface of the piain is swopt of dust by the wind, and this gem-covered pave- mont glistens inthe san’s rays with magical effect—the stones being reta\ned in their places by a narrow bat firm bedding on the under side. AMELLE E-QUSTTH AND AB-WITH-A-QUE. into the air above the lower but still angular outlines of the ridges. The highest peaks is called A-melie-e-quette by the ‘Yuma Indians, and Chimney peak by the people at Fort Yuma. Arx-with a-que is the [edian namo for Some Tock. These rocks and peaks have never been closely examined, we believe, by persons competent to describe them. The grandeur and desolatencss of the whole scene are perhaps unsurpassed. INDIAN BXPLANATION OF RABTHQUAKES. ‘Major Emory gives the Indian name for Chimney peak as Avie Mil-li-keb, (avie signifying mountain in the In- | dian tongue,) and says that it is #0 named in bonor of a ‘earned and wise chief who became a deity afer his Permit Geath. He is supposed to occupy « large cavern in the mountains, the entrance to which is guarded by a racoon— one of his old pets. The path that leads from the cave to the rivor bank is sald to be dis- timotly marked’ by his footsteps. Hoe enjoys long intervals of sleep, and when aroused by the wickedness of his worshippers he is believed to change his position, and the act of rolling over causes the rumbling earth- quakes that aro frequently felt throughout this section of country. This isa new theory of earthquakes, which we commend for examination to the Sage of Brooklyn Acights. The Indians make regular visits to the spot, like Mahomo- dans te the shrine of Mahomet. INDIAN RUINS. A subsequent expedition passing through this region dis- covered extensive ruins, supposed to be of Aztec origin. At one place the extent of the ruins indicated that the lo- ality had once been peopled by a population of 2,000 or 3,000, There were also evidences that the Coyotero In- dians had farmed there in former times. Captain Ewell in his report of a scout made under his command to the Cheicechue mountains, says:— T reached the Gila in the valley, the lower end of which was out of sight, but evidently from twenty-five to thirty soil is rich miles long, and from three to five wide. Inna passed through 1 support 20,000 people, nrrounoa to su) , » BU ded by fine prairie for grazing. Broken pottery was every- where a0 plenty that it amounts to a puzzle. A great many ruins, some of large villages or pueblos, are to be seen, and at powwts the marks of what must once have been a noble acequia, cut through such hard, strong banks that it is aifficult to believe no iron was used in the | construction. The Pimo Indians say that these wero tne homes of their ancestors. Odlone! Bonneville also says of it:— After passing the Depot valley the river continues its course south and enters the cavons of a low range of lava mountains conneciing the Burro and Almoque mountains. Lost, ag it were, for about tweuty miles in these canons, it falls into @ large open country, extending from tho Burro mountains on the east to the Almoque on the west; it continues westerly till it meets the Sierrita Jornado, a long range of canons from the south, forces the river ‘among tho issues anc precipices of its northern extremity ; when, eccking again its western direction, it flows for irom seventy to ove hundred miles through a vailey about forty miles wide. This vslley wes remarked by all as moet fertiie—extenaive bowom lends, a rolling country on either side, offering the finest grazing to the very {ot of the mountaing. This valley, like every other capable of being cultivated, gives evidence of a former poopie agri- cultural in @eir pursuits, and po doubt far more civuized than the present race who desolate it. REMARKABLE CANON— NATURAL MASONRY. ‘The country passed by the Mexican boundary survey, made under the treaty for the purchase of the Mesiila valley, abounds in natural curiosities. Major Emory, ia his report, describes a canon through which the Peo. river forces its way for twenty miles. The Danks of this canoa are composed of high perpondicular masses of iime- stone, resembling more the work of art than of nature. ‘These walls vary from fifty to tree hundred feetin height, and cfler eo Intle foothold that in boating it down the river the party had often to travel miles without being able to fine a spot te land. SURRBA NEVADA. But for mountain scenery of the grandoet character tourwis must go into the fasiuesses of the Sierra Nevada, One of our correspondents, writing to us under date of Head Waters of ihe Merced river, July 2, 1857, thus de- ecribes the scenery :— What do you think of summer in the lonely fastnesses of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at an elevation of trom ten to twelve thousand fect above the sea, three hundred miles tn the far toterior from San Fraycieco, and where lew footstepe but those of “native Americaus” have ever trodden—where the giant clus rear their granite heads three thousand feet above the general mountain level where we ecjvarned, an: com | eee agg and crags to which your vaunted ( ohooley'# m -nntains, sod our celebrated Green and Wazte moudtains are but mie. ile? This, it will be seid, i@ on a rather stependour scale, ana the description just sucn & yarn as is to be ex pected from (he exbilarativg aunospbere of California, whereeverything is een through yellow spectacics, and the trees are (said to be) three bundred feet high. Nevertheless, the outline | have above given pon is not exaggerated ina single particular, aod under ihe betiet thal ao account Cf & journey iwto te Siorra Nevada, irom which I nave just returned, will prove ioteresting to you, I forwara it by mail, SEARYING POR THR ISTRRIOR Our little party, cousietog or two or three spectacled favans (Who heave once been widely aud favorably known to tho seleptitic world of New and as many noassu ming “outsiders” or wanderers along the borders of scien. tifle sore, seft Sab Francisco on the lth of say on @ visit to the m5 us sud unkeowD Yooemi.y valley, at the sources Of that river whence | date Luis letter Arriving at Stockton next moraiog, we lett by the So- bora coach (we Lave regular tices of Concord coaches here) and reached Mouna Springs at four o'clock P. Bore we found tae Couliery ille stage in renuioess, and en sCOUCIDg OUreel ves in its Com ), Old fashioaed inte. rior, we reached the utte town of Cuultersille at nive o'clock P, M. From this point, the distance to the valley of the Yors. mity is about forty miles, aod toe cot ro avetance, leading up and mountain slopes, must be performed o& mule back. the 23d of May saw us off, the crowd mounted, ana « veritable Mexican arricro or mule driver bringing up the rear, with two mules toaded with pack ages and buncies filed with the wherewithal to support mountain rife. L., who bad twice ascended Telegraph Hill at San Francisco and returned in safety, bore in one nand a tro. mendova Colt’s revolver, which | dare ay be could hays fired off in some cases witnout shutting nis eyes, and in the otber & long, biack suspicious looking botle, with which ever apd anon he paused to recruit the spirit of company. Our rome , Who took the lead, bestroce his poworfal grey, ne Fim the air of an experienced mountaineer, bespenk | the beautiful in oalure, He previous year who bad visited the famcus falls of jock 1 the hoo Vailey, and was made capiain by EES 5 253 * 88s E i H i} H i i i i st i 43 F | i i? : H H i i : ge | il P i ; fi 3 i & Hi Ee’ i # H i i i i; 5 f stb Es i F i i l Fag) a 33 i | Hl 5 5 § 3 i i f H i ik & : 4 i af A & li HI a Hi 38 4 3 § ; j AH # FE # s E i | i i i & & qe tly . point are to be found only intermioglee with slender trunks, the skelotove of @ race long since perished; frequently reach a terrace enough depressed andthero jittle lakes on whore margins grow varions rare plants, mostly unkuown in the below, We arrive at fast, perhaps, at some pyramid of broken rocks corthears upon enotber, aod this forms the peak strikes the eye from a distance, when, in looking to- wards the Sierra Nevada, one desories a series of rounded bases, for the most part surmounted by cones more er less eharpened. As we sorsmble with aifficulty over this rude pile of rscks all ver.iure diseppears—we are surrounted only by cesolatien. Bat! soa reserve a full description of the mountain f liage for some future communication. I sba'l only add that in the mid region which we had now attsined, wo found ourseives sur- rounded with bsautiful flowers, while below, ia the Sacra- mento and San Jusgquia valleys, everyibing green disappeared ip the summer drought. THR DESCENT INTO THR YOSEMITY VALLEY From our camp rear Harle Green, we svou reached a large meadow rurrouaced by the iofty forest and atorned wit oriiliant flowers, Here the trai! jeads +0 the right and then divides to the Isft, deecen’ ing into the waters of Cascade creek and its tributaries. Ascending end descend. ing several stesp spurs, avd crosatog se vera! streams, we finally caught © xlitnpso of the evertastiog walls of the Yosemity, ana turther on we saw gisaming like a silver thread from the dark preci;ice, the Cascade of the Rainbow. We cow commenced the descent into tho valley in earnest, and in an hour, after rolling, elippicg, jumping, and sme ute swearing amovg the less initiated, we Teaches the level of the river THE CASCADE OF THE RAINBOW, Tt is from this point that we obtatned oar first view of tho Yoremity Vailey ;' aad the scane producea an ‘mapres- etou nevew to be forgotten. As we pass up the valley the first object thet atrracts the aitention is the Carcade of the Rainbow, already referred to It deecends into the valley on our right, at one fall, ning bundred ard twenty- eight feet. The water comes over tne graniie edge of tbe precipice, then, deaconding, in broken into flecoy forms, scaotimes swayed hither and thither by the way- ward winds, At other times the sun ilicmines i's spray into ra‘nbow hues, aod the whole havgs from ths cuff inathm veil of pink, wh'teand blae mist. Here it bas dashed and foamed from its dizzy he'ght since the orea- tion, with none but savage and uneppreciating eyes (> be- hold it, Tye surrouwaing pears are riveu into varied forms, most picturesque in their ontiines, contr Deautifwiy with tne emerald meadows and masses ines, Cecars and oaks at their base Toe stream carries @ ige booy of water, aud baa its source far away to the south, twards the civide of the Ssn Joaquin river, Here the Sierra Nevada, fiowivg @lovg the mountain rioges until it leaps @ preci pice more than eigbt times as high a5 Nisger Must not begin to exclaim at this po.at, or [ auall my store of expletives before I reaco the great wonder of the vailcy. THE FALIS OF CHOOLOOK. As we proceeded ouwara we wore held in awe by the sublime proportions of El Capitan, or the ‘chi of the Yosemity’—a elif of grapite lifting iis gisat om the left w the height of more thaa teres thousand feet—a sheer preeip' jotting iato the valiey Upon the rr of the valley, (which is here only three- scurths of a mile wid immense cliffs also occur, their eerrated pinnacles piercing the very skies, and forming with El Cepiian the gateway of the Merced, We rode slowly and almost reverentially along the base of El Capitan, and, fordiog the river beyoad reached the camp of Jucge Walworth, directiy opposite the High gd where we remained duriog our sojourn in the val- ley. From the edge of the grove in the rear of the house we obtained a fall view o: the Great Fails, where the water precipitates itself into the valley in three awful op sa0- cessively of a buodred, four hnnared ant bua- dred feet ik of « river plunging over s precipice twenty five hundred feet high, and tbe two exsep. ‘tona of inequalities in the suriace of the ciifl which partiy break its cescent, falling from its dizzy heighy ino the valley below without impediment. It shouid be remem- that this body of water is no trickling stream, (though viewed from a distance, such is the groat Of tts descent that! resembles @ silver thread hai from the cliff,) but river often sweiled into formiasele Gimensions by the meiting of the snows in the Sierra Nevada. Compared t this, all otber known falis om the globe face into insigaificance, and your Niagara, Gonevees, Trentons, Ac., &C, are bul aqueous pigmes. iagara, it is true, discharges a greater volume of water, it, with ail ite grandeur aed suplimi:y, it fails to procuce the effect upon the beholser caused by a first view of the Great Fats of the Yosemity. Thus you see Caltfornia, im- dependent of her goid mines, gigantic trees, higher tham the cross of [rinity church sveep.e, mammoth vogetabies and Brobdignatan fruit, flings cown the geuatlont to the world on the waterfali question, and ohallenges an equal even to the smallest fails of this wonder/ui valley; tor bere = five of them here, and even the lesser one two buBared feet high The difficulty wiih us is thet we have co tashionadies among these lovely m untain fast- Resaes, to sing the praises of the Choolook, aod the ehite yest poots who exeoute the sem! sonual panegyric of i I | if E Niagara not only never heard cf Choolook, but would searcely venture to soil their kids by ecrambi'ng up inve the Sierra to view them The traveiling public are al- ready becomiog Wearied of the mouctony of the same old summer resoris of the A.laotic States, and are flying te Earoge for retie’. It #11 s00n be & common thing for the died with enmut to pass the summer im the sublime scenery and exbilerating yarred Thow we shall begin wo read im the Papers accounts of the Yoromity Vatiey and the wondor- ful Fails of Cacotvos TROUT FiSHUN Not far from where tne fails ¢ river widens Into a placid elo pty into the valley the lowirg etrvam, pure ae crystal. and croedec with such trout at @ ciacipie of old Iraak Walton would go crazy about. fH: self resorted to Ssh, aod neck lace of four pwu no boaster, bat must fn cuty say that L. ger fined bis piseaicry ojerations to leleniously the sardines trom our }umet basset. A., seated in a com- Mavens spot, soon became absordec in wravsmiting to canvars the «icrour aronad him, aud to your Correspmceat belongs the crecit of effecting alliauces’’ with the cea zens of the stream. MOUSTAIN RCENRRY. We made frequent journeys ‘rom the valley up into the cloud capped summis arcuod us. These trips were often Atendea with great farigue and some danger, bat they served to nerve us for future efforts, and impart a aegree Of strength and healthfulness such as only the invigoral- og mounvain air of California can give [eo thrae asctmus We wore frequoutly struck with ine strangeness of the views about ox ‘¢ Lom rally com- bad ceived ‘an to the real neigh: of the ringes be‘ore him. As he seconds, be fuatiy coters this region of vapors, which, too growing tnineer anc thinner, Becomes ai last so penoteat: 0d by toe cifforeo sunlwht tant evers particle is {i nminat- clean pair ec; mud if be looks bebind bim, the earth #o eu tdeniy tor aod mivates in a ea of mist that (28 sleep pysmauid up which he ts clambering appears litte @ precipitous istand floating es HA Magic PKT, Aricet A drieziing rain of infin \tesimal dia- moada the MOUNTAIN GAM tne Amid rach & variety of ssenes, which were ever shifting im ike @ dissolving view. we pastel several weeke--living of ip the a'r and goneraily rubsisting on juicy verison the ateake of or owa killiog, or tbe luxuries I nave cooking, already referred to Here the blae winged teal, tho moun- Fg tain of wood duck, and several curious upland birds, abound. Among tne better known are the veritable bey } Posey: of greats.ce, aad Setened epee te heater, wee . . rows laxuriantly, contrary 0 tpse dient Farly next morning we mountoi, f y= © | dry wike botanists wad Bove aneorted that b.ather docs ‘mill and Shroeder's store, at Bull creek, the classic up | pot grow on the Amerioan cootinent. the vaileys here lation of the North Fork of the Moroed river, A few | kre filed with itor a Geep purple Color—aprending out miners are located upon this stream and ita branches, but | over countless acres of country, and di(Taning its fragrance up to this time there have been but few ‘ton strikes” | through all the alr. This i the true *oottian heather with among the Ciqgere.. The vicinity, however, is rich in | whien the Higbianders etofl their beds, aud we geserally quartz veins our route ley along the valley of this | have made our beds pon ite swoet yioiding surface when creek, by the new trail up the ieft hand and iO | ever it wae to be found. The crops of the grouse are two hours wo bad passed the last mining locality near the | found filed with it There in also the quali—tne male head of the stream, with which weseomod to leave behind | pind sporting ® pretty topknot upon his beat. These us the last vestiges of civilization. we shot by the haadreas, and faaliy quit tne sport sheer satiety of their meat fe also shot seve. See. y the ‘‘cita’’ of Broadway, and suggested wi Tun it would be troll Schooley's mouetaia,hove aad all, down the vast slopes which ran with scarcely an iator- from the snow ciad summit above aa. the Pilot peak, one of the highest pointe of the lower mountains, while to the right of the trail lay tbe valleys of the Merced aod ite tributaries, the moustaine seerai to dissolve in that direction into I\qatd ether—-from parpie pt ny Pivnactes into mere shadowy outlnes—so great ™ distance. long and struggle and we reached the viding’ ridge’ penarece, he Tuchamas rivers, the trat! ing along its summit, aod throug) # majes'ic forest es ani cedars, From this we emerged upon & bomn- sadow, to which some precoding traveliors had name of Haris Green, and made camp some miles beyood, wore we found gravy and water for from ral “roaa ronners,’’ ® specie of birds rerambling the mareh hen or rail, in its motions, bus which flies Ike the woudoouk. They are yet wn to ornitholog aw, ‘and are Counted hore the best eating of any of the feasher- od wild game, We neither raw nor heard a grizzly boar during our journey, though we frequently encountered their tracks on the road, fhese animals are ‘fast driven trom the const land. and avother goneration . doubtless be as bara pushed to fod one ns the pracomt 0 is to scare up ® woif or brown bear in Mew Kogiand. THE FALIA OF THR MIELE YORK One of our jouroeys from the camp wes made to the Vaile of the Mietie Ferk. Leaving the brash hut we rode up the oy 4 some thres miles, and turning to the right, crossed the bron delta where tne waters of the Miadia and South Forks unite with those of ihe valley. tied our animals and proceeded on foot Immense messes of granite from the surroundiog heights biock ap the narrow chasm, the stream descendiag tu the left ro: ovor tts rocky bed. Scarcely able to follow trail, we clambered along, and crossing the South Fork, ewtered tho canon of the Middie Fork, wh'on comes ta from the rigia After an arduous walk we saw tho waters of the fall g'oamirg araong the trooe, ani! ecramb!ing upem,