mpromise, "I will walk as far as I can, and when I reach the
impossible, I will try that ill-constructed beast. I cannot see what you
men were thinking of when you selected such an animal for this journey."
And so we went slowly down, arguing the point whether it were better to
ride or walk; to trust one's own legs, or, by chance, be precipitated
thousands of feet down the mountain side.

It was a hot August day; the sun, in the zenith, shining with full
power. My blood was at boiling heat with exercise and vexation.
Alternately sliding and walking, catching hold of rocks and twigs,
drinking at every rivulet, covered with dust, dripping with
perspiration, skirts, gloves, and shoes in tatters, for four long hours
I struggled down to the end, when I laid myself out on the grass, and
fell asleep, perfectly exhausted, having sent the guide to tell Mr.
Hutchins that I had reached the valley, and, as I could neither ride nor
walk, to send a wheelbarrow, or four men with a blanket to transport me
to the hotel. That very day the Mariposa Company had brought the first
carriage into the valley, which, in due time, was sent to my relief.
Miss Anthony, who, with a nice little Mexican pony and narrow saddle,
had made her descent with grace and dignity, welcomed me on the steps of
the hotel, and laughed immoderately at my helpless plight.

As hour after hour had passed, she said, there had been a general
wonderment as to what had become of me; "but did you ever see such
magnificent scenery?" "Alas!" I replied, "I have been in no mood for
scenery. I have been constantly watching my hands and feet lest I should
come to grief." The next day I was too stiff and sore to move a finger.
However, in due time I awoke to the glory and grandeur of that wonderful
valley, of which no descriptions nor paintings can give the least idea.
With Sunset Cox, the leading Democratic statesman, and his wife, we had
many pleasant excursions through the valley, and chats, during the
evening, on the piazza. There was a constant succession of people going
and coming, even in that far-off region, and all had their adventures to
relate. But none quite equaled my experiences.

We spent a day in the Calaveras Grove, rested beneath the "big trees,"
and rode on horseback through the fallen trunk of one of them. Some
vandals sawed off one of the most magnificent specimens twenty feet
above the ground, and, on this the owners of the hotel built a little
octagonal ch