one of these trees partially decayed
towards its base, yet still alive and standing upright with a broad,
lofty passage-way through its entire trunk, large enough for our stage,
laden with passengers inside and out, to drive through. Though time has
made such havoc with this trunk, it still possesses sufficient vitality
to bear leaves upon its topmost branches, some three hundred feet above
the ground. It is curious that these enormous trees, among the largest
upon the globe, have cones only about the size of walnuts, with seeds of
hardly a quarter of an inch in length. There are trunks lying upon the
ground in this remarkable grove which are believed to be two thousand
years of age; and others upright, and in growing condition, which are
reckoned by their clearly defined annual rings, to be thirteen hundred
years old. The region embraced in what is known as the Yosemite Valley
has been ceded by the National Government to the State of California, on
the express condition that it shall be kept inviolate in its present
wild and natural state for all time.

The streets, alleys, and boulevards of San Francisco present a panorama
of human interest rarely excelled in any part of the world. How
impressive to watch its cosmopolitan life, to note the exaggerated love
of pleasure exhibited on all hands, the devotion of each active member
of the community to money-making, the prevailing manners and customs,
the iniquitous pursuits of the desperate and dangerous classes, and the
readiness of their too willing victims! It is the solitary looker-on who
sees more than the actors in the great drama of every-day life. Above
all, it is most curious to observe how the lines of barbarism and
civilization intersect along these teeming avenues.

There is a district of the city near its very centre, known as
Chinatown, which is at total variance with the general surroundings. It
requires but a slight stretch of the imagination after passing its
borders to believe one's self in Canton or Hong Kong, except that the
thoroughfares in the Asiatic capitals are mere alleys in width, shut in
overhead and darkened by straw mats, while here we have broad streets
after the American and European fashion, open to the sky. They are,
however, lined with Chinese shops, decked in all their national
peculiarities, exhibiting the most grotesque signs, while the windows
are crowded with outlandish articles, and the whole surrounded by an
Oriental atmosphere. T