or Bridal Veil, a flashing fall of a thousand feet
swaying like a silvery plume in the mountain breezes, and the grand
feature of the gorge, of which I have so often spoken, El Capitan, three
thousand six hundred feet.

To the east of the hotel, about two miles above the falls, the valley
ends and divides into three canons, each containing scenery as
remarkable as those of the main gorge. The northwest canyon is the Tinaya
Fork; here we have the Half Dome, a majestic inaccessible crest of
concentric granite, four thousand seven hundred and thirty-seven feet
above the valley, with a vertical face where the half sphere split off
of two thousand feet in height; the North Dome, a rounded mass, three
thousand five hundred and sixty-eight feet, and easy to ascend from the
north. In this fork is the exquisite Tisayic Lake, on which the morning
reflections are so beautifully given.

The middle canyon, that of the Merced River, is the most important
one of the three. No ravine scenery in Europe equals this wild and
extraordinary gorge. The river, which at this season has a tremendous
body of water, descends through a wild ravine of two miles, nineteen
hundred and eighty feet. The path winds along over a series of wild
falls and rapids, till a cloud and gale of mist and wet cover it,
through which we reach a dry place at the foot of a magnificent fall,
four hundred and seventy-five feet high,--the Vernal. Then ladders are
ascended up the face of the cliff, and we rest on the dry, sunny ledge
over the boiling and whirling cataract. Still another scramble for a
mile, and we find ourselves blinded, gasping, in the breath of the
furious cataract above. We are all clad in India-rubber coats (furnished
by a guide), and drip with water, and work up, inch by inch, stooping,
as against a violent current. The gale takes away our breaths, and we
have every now and then to catch a breath; there is nothing visible
ahead but clouds of mist and driving swirls of rain, with a roar
filling the air, which prevents all voices from being heard. We are
helping the ladies on with the utmost difficulty, but at last all
reluctantly give out and turn back; but I cannot bear to give up the
view; and after groping in the furious storm and mist, I at length find
a side path through the chaparral, and soon reach a dry ledge beneath
the superb Nevada Fall,--a majestic sweep of thundering water, six
hundred and thirty-nine feet in height, more grand than any