directly opposite our hotel, and its music never ceased, day or
night,--the Yosemite Fall. The stream which bears this name heads about
ten miles away, and then flows down, almost directly over the mighty
precipice, into the valley below,--a depth of two thousand five hundred
and fifty feet. At this time it is about thirty-five feet wide by two or
three deep. The fall has almost the appearance of one grand shoot of
water, but it has, in reality, three divisions: the first is a descent
of fifteen hundred feet on a ledge (as it seems), though it is, in fact,
a shelf of rock, a third of a mile broad; then follow a series of
cascades for six hundred and twenty-five feet, and a final leap of four
hundred. There is water enough now to give a bright, foaming, grand
sweep of the whole cataract. It is certainly one of the most beautiful
objects the human eye can ever gaze upon! We never wearied of riding
out over the green meadows and gay, wild flowers to get some new aspect
of it.
The only fall to compare it with, that I have ever seen, is the Voering
Foss, in Norway. This is a fall of nine hundred and fifty feet, but the
water is so scanty that it is all resolved into wreaths of mist before
it reaches the bottom; and it makes but little impression on the mind,
compared with the Yosemite Fall. It is, moreover, confined in a narrow,
dark gorge, and must be seen usually from above. In seeing the
Californian fall, I did not even think of the Norwegian.
The amount of water, at this season, adds immensely to the cheerfulness
and life of the valley; but it also occasioned us a great deal of
trouble in getting round. We were mired several times, and twice one of
our ladies was thrown on the soft greensward.
But the scampering gallops through the groves under these grand scenes,
and the quiet amblings amid such beauty and sublimity, were pleasures
which nothing marred. In our rides down the canyon, we were struck by the
grand mass of the Sentinel Dome, four thousand one hundred and fifty
feet above the valley, and said to give the finest point of view in the
whole region round; the valley itself, it must be remembered, being over
four thousand feet above the sea-level. Then three-quarters of a mile
beyond is the majestic buttress of the Sentinel Rock, three thousand
feet high, of which a thousand feet is a smooth obelisk; opposite to
this are the Three Brothers, the highest three thousand eight hundred
and thirty feet, and each regularly lower than the next.
[Illustration: RED WOOD TREE, CALIFORNIA]
Then comes the Cathedral Rock, two thousand six hundred and sixty feet,
with two perfect spires, the most picturesque object in the valley; then
the exquisite Pohono, 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 waterfall in
the valley, because of the volume of water. There is a peculiar twist in
the upper portion of it, which adds to its picturesque effect. On the
other side rises a most remarkable peak of granite, solitary and
inaccessible,--Mount Broderick, some two thousand feet. The scene as I
stood there alone beneath this sublime sweep of waters, and amid those
mighty mountain-cliffs, can never be forgotten.
The South Fork I did not visit, but the photographs show that it
possesses scenery as romantic as the other branches of the canyon. It is
interesting to notice that these enormous waterfalls in the Merced Canyon
have scarcely an indentation on this most hard rock,--a fact probably
indicating that they have not existed a great length of time. The
comparative absence of detritus in the upper part of the main valley
would seem to show the action of water and ice, pressing the debris into
the lower portion, where more of it is found. There are, too (as was
discovered by Mr. King), something which may be called lateral moraines,
and perhaps a terminal moraine in the middle of the canyon, so that it
seems not improbable, though there is no absolute evidence, that in a
comparatively recent period glaciers existed in the upper part, and a
lake in the body of the Yosemite Canyon, the descent of the whole valley,
it must be remembered, being only fifty feet during some eight miles.
A SPORTSMAN'S EXPERIENCE IN MEXICO.
SIR ROSE LAMBERT PRICE.
[Major Price, whose hunting adventures seem to have extended
from Terra del Fuego to the northern boundary of the United
States, gives us, in his "Sport and Travel; or, The Two
Americas," a record full of incident and observation. From his
greatly varied hunting experience we select a description of
the pursuit of game in the vicinity of Acupulco, Mexico, which
is of interest as showing the conditions of animal and
vegetable life in that region.]
The day after our arrival, H---- and myself, getting mules and a guide,
started for Pira de la Questa, a small Indian village about twelve miles
from Acupulco, and situated near the extremity of a large lagoon, some
thirty miles in circumference, which we were informed was full of wild
fowl. Over many a rough road and in many lands have I ridden, but never
did I travel a highway like unto this. The path ran over the mountains
through a thick forest, and more resembled the bed of a water-course
than an actually connected route. Nothing but mules, whose cat-like
propensities enable them to overcome apparently insurmountable
difficulties, could possibly have done the journey. In places the path
was so narrow that two of these animals were unable to pass abreast, so
that one would be obliged to go back into a convenient corner, or
scramble up a bank, to permit the other to go by.
The forest was dense, but, as it was just prior to the rains, almost
leafless, everything being burned and parched up except in the valleys
and bottoms of ravines, where running water rendered the vegetation
luxuriant and flourishing. This absence of foliage, though detracting
considerably from the beauty of the forest, permitted us to view all
the better its feathered denizens, and in few tropical countries have I
seen such lovely birds, or in such numbers as out here. To classify or
name them would require a man to be a perambulating encyclopaedia of
natural history; but among them all I was most struck with the number of
specimens of the woodpecker class, several of which were very beautiful.
One in particular with a blood-red topknot, which glittered vividly in
the sun, I envied much for my fishing-book, and regretted the guide had
my gun in his possession nearly a mile behind.
As the sun was setting we entered the village, which consisted of a few
mud huts with sideless roofs, and halting before one of them, was
informed by the guide that it was to be our quarters for the night. It
was simply a roof of palm-leaves over a mud floor, there being no kind
of wall or even screen, and it formed the universal dormitory of men,
women, and children, pigs and poultry, at the principal hotel--the
Claridge's, in fact--of Pira la Questa. Leaving the proprietress and her
numerous progeny engaged in hunting down an active-looking fowl for our
evening repast, we rode to the lagoon, and giving the guide our mules
to hold, shot a few of the curious-looking aquatic birds, which he
pronounced to be "bueno," or good for eating, that were feeding round
the banks. It was rapidly getting dark, and seeing at a distance some
birds that I took to be duck, I noiselessly crept down on them. To do so
I had to pass over a small spot of white sand, concealed, until I was on
it, by a clump of bushes.
While still silently watching the birds I saw something move a little to
my right, and on turning round discovered a huge alligator, whom I had
almost cut off from the lake. The bushes had hidden us until absolutely
face to face, and he came by me with his teeth grinning and tail half
cocked, in the most unamiable frame of mind I ever saw in one of his
tribe. Without intending it, I had very nearly cut him off from his
native element; and though naturally a cowardly brute, feeling himself
to a certain degree cornered, he had evidently made up his mind to
fight. Not being prepared, with only small shot in my gun, for a duel
with the reptile, I stopped short and gave him right of way, and, as he
cleared me at about two yards, let him have both barrels behind the
shoulder to expedite his movements, and had the satisfaction of seeing
him give a jump into the water that would have done credit to a
performer for the Grand National.
They are cowardly brutes, and though I have been frequently in parts of
the world they inhabit, I have never yet heard of an instance of a man
being attacked by one on land. In the water it is different. A boy had,
while bathing, been taken down some months since close to this very
spot; and from what I saw of the lagoon next morning, I would not have
ventured a swim there for untold gold. Had I been a little quicker, and
unintentionally barred this fellow's way to the lake, I am quite certain
he would have attacked me, as he must have passed somehow. These
creatures never take to the jungle, and, like a rat driven into a
corner, he would have been obliged to fight.
On returning to the village we found our dinner nearly ready; bread and
liquor we had brought with us, but the hunted fowl, new-laid eggs, and
hot tortillas formed no bad meal for travellers sharp set by a mountain
ride. After feeding, we visited some of the principal houses in the
village, chaffed some of the good-humored and pretty little Indian
girls, and arranged about a canoe for the following morning. We then
slung our grass hammocks among the miscellaneous company and wooed the
drowsy god of slumber, our guide slinging his hammock up between us,
and sleeping with his machete buckled around him, ready for attack or
defence at a moment's notice.
The machete is the invariable companion of the poorer and middle classes
of Mexicans, and the multiplicity of uses to which it is dedicated are
something wonderful to the uninitiated. With it he clears the tangled
paths in the forest; it helps to build his hut, to cut his firewood, and
eat his dinner; he uses it for purposes of warfare, and too frequently
also for purposes of assassination. The blade is broad, slightly curved,
a little shorter than an infantry officer's regulation sword, and about
twice as heavy. The handle is generally made of wood, the scabbard
leather, and the edge invariably as keen as a razor. Occasionally the
blades are ornamented with gold or silver, but the ordinary machete is
perfectly plain.
Next morning we were up before daylight, and hastened to the banks of
the lagoon, where according to agreement we should have found our canoe.
None was forthcoming, however, and not until the sun broke fiercely
on our heads and our patience was completely exhausted did our guide
prevail on the man who was to have provided it to go in search of
another. After a still further considerable delay, at last he arrived,
but with a rickety conveyance that would only hold one gun besides the
paddler; and H----taking the canoe, I walked along the edge, and our
shooting commenced.
The place was full of all kinds of odd-looking waterfowl. Geese, duck,
teal, pelicans, flamingo, and spoonbills were in hundreds, and many
kinds of waders unknown to me; in fact, such an extraordinary variety
of fresh-water birds I had never seen together before. The ducks were
particularly handsome, having bright bronze breasts, which shone like
burnished metal in the sun. Of teal I shot several varieties, many of
them with exceedingly beautiful and brilliant plumage; but I think among
the queer ones I killed there were none more beautiful in plumage than
the spoonbill; for though his singular and uncouth beak did not improve
his countenance, he had the most lovely and delicate tinge of rose-color
through his white feathers it is possible to conceive. We had him for
dinner two days afterwards, and found him excellent.
Not knowing a quarter of the birds that got up, and many being fishy and
unfit for food, whenever one rose the guide would cry either "Bueno" or
"No bueno," as it happened to be fit or unfit for culinary purposes; and
so on for nine miles along the banks, sometimes through mud, at others
through sand, and at others through jungle or water, did I plod along,
taking whatever was termed "bueno," and occasionally peppering an
obtrusive alligator when he came anything inside twelve yards.
The heat was intense, and, to add to the discomfort of walking, the
paths through the jungle and mangrove swamps occasionally bordered the
edges of the lake, and were so thickly crossed by cobwebs that they were
perpetually knocking off my hat, getting in my mouth and eyes, and at
times almost impeded my progress. I never saw anything like them.
Occasionally large forest-trees were entirely covered from top to
bottom, and so thickly shrouded that not a leaf or twig could be seen
through its unnatural-looking winding-sheet. The lagoon seemed full of
fish, which were jumping in shoals all over it; but not once during the
day did we see a single bird settle on its surface; and from the number
of alligators swimming about, I think they showed their wisdom.
It was capital sport, but precious hard work also, and I was just about
"played out," when we reached a "ranche," where, after a pull of cold
water that must have somewhat alarmed my constitution, I tumbled into a
grass hammock, uncommonly glad to get out of the burning sun.
A pleasant-featured young Mexican woman, with a dark-eyed, good-looking
sister, soon despatched between them one of the many chickens running
about the house; and while the _cazuela_ was preparing they very
good-naturedly washed out my shirt, lending me, _ad interim_, some
embroidered garment of their own. The rest of my clothes were hung up to
dry, every stitch on me being thoroughly saturated. H---- and the canoe
soon after arrived, and how we did enjoy the homely but excellent fare
our hostess put before us! Then came pipes and a siesta, and a couple of
hours' rest saw us fit to return. H---- had got enough of it, and,
borrowing a horse, rode back to the village. I returned in the canoe,
and got a good many shots _en route_. Our bag was a mixed one, and
consisted of the birds I have already mentioned, with several others
whose names we did not know, and four rabbits. Wild duck and teal
predominated, and the guides could hardly stagger from the canoe to the
houses with our united bag.
The sun was fast setting as we left Pira la Questa on our return
journey, and ere we reached the mountain-top it was quite dark. Unable
to see a yard before us, but knowing we must go on, I threw the reins on
my mule's neck, and, lighting a pipe, resigned myself implicitly to his
sagacity, not only to find the path, but to avoid the obstacles which
at every step lay before him. My confidence was not misplaced. With
nose almost touching the ground, he seemed to smell his way along, and
not once during our long ride did he deviate for a second from the
proper track, or make a single false step or stumble. The sounds and
strange cries during the dark stillness of the night were very
remarkable. Whether caused by bird or insect I could not tell; but
one in particular, resembling the prolonged whistle of a locomotive
steam-engine, was frequently of more than a minute's duration without
ceasing, and of such volume and intensity that unless I had been aware
of the utter impossibility of a train being within hundreds of miles, I
would have almost sworn to so familiar a sound. The lights of Acupulco
at last came in sight, and our animals soon after deposited us safely,
after a somewhat trying but very agreeable trip....
On the 10th of May we left Acupulco and steamed quietly along the
Mexican coast in sight of land until we reached Manzanillo Bay, on
the southeast part of which are situated the few wretched huts that
constitute the village. The harbor is well protected from southerly
winds, but not from those directly from the westward. Behind the
village, and only a few hundred yards from the sea-beach, is a large
shallow lagoon which runs nearly forty miles into the interior, and at
the end of the dry season becomes almost empty. The exhalations at this
time rising from the mud and stagnant water are most dreadful, and even
at our anchorage the stench during the night was almost unbearable....
Next morning, before daylight, we started with Mr. D---- across the
lagoon to a place about an hour's row from the village, where he said
he was in the habit of getting wild duck. The lake was so shallow that
our boat often grounded, and the oars at each stroke disturbed the
black, ink-like mud that constituted the bottom. The sides were
beautifully wooded, and surrounded by ranges of hills extending far
into the interior, the edges of the water being fringed with a belt
of mangrove-trees, whose peculiarly bright green foliage contrasted
pleasingly with the sombre coloring of the leafless trees behind them.
The perfectly stagnant water was of a light-yellow tint, and as full of
alligators as it could well be....
After firing a good many shots, and gathering a somewhat miscellaneous
bag, Mr. D---- saw a large alligator asleep on some mud, lying half in
and half out of the water; and as I was the only one of the party who
had brought any bullets, he sent one of the guides to show me where it
lay, in hope that I might get a shot.
Slowly, and with the greatest caution, I waded through water until I got
within twelve yards of where the brute lay, and aiming about an inch
behind the eye, drove a bullet clean into his brain. He gave a
convulsive kind of shudder and lash with his tail, and was, I believe,
dead; but to make certain I gave him the second barrel at about four
yards' distance behind the shoulder, and then felt quite confident that
I had indeed "wound him up."
It was some time before we could induce the natives to assist in pulling
him on dry land. Though they do not mind them living and swimming about,
they are particularly careful of a wounded one, a single sweep of its
powerful tail, even when mortally stricken, being known to break both
legs of a man like a pipe-stem. Though dead enough to all intents and
purposes, an alligator, like either a shark or a turtle, will continue
possessed of a certain amount of vitality and motion for a long period
after life is really extinct. This fellow was still gently swaying his
tail about while we bent on a rope to it, and, all five of us clapping
on, soon hauled him to the dry mud on the bank, where we took his
length, opened his jaws, and generally examined the formidable-looking
reptile at our leisure. He was about fifteen feet long and inconceivably
hideous. The first bullet had smashed a large hole exactly where I
aimed,--namely, about one inch behind the eye; the skull seemed
comparatively thin there, was unprotected by any thick skin, and a large
lump of his brain was oozing through the wound. The second bullet went
through his heart; but I am convinced that it was unnecessary, as the
first shot had done all that was needful.
Much as people have written to the contrary, I am quite satisfied now
that an alligator is as easily slain as a rabbit, if only hit in the
right place; and that place is not in the eye, as is generally stated,
but on the same level, and from an inch to an inch and a half behind it.
The brain in all reptiles lies rather far back in the head, joining
almost to the neck. By striking one in the eye from many positions it is
quite possible that the brain may not be touched at all; while, if the
ball hits the slightest degree in front of it, on the creature's long
ugly snout, the bullet might as well be chucked in the river for all
the harm it will do the alligator. Unsightly as these gentry are, the
Indians occasionally eat them. The skins are sometimes tanned; but
they smell so strong, it is an awkward job to handle them. During dry
seasons they collect in vast quantities in the small pools still left
unevaporated, and are then killed in large numbers for their hides,
which when tanned are found serviceable for many purposes. They are
tougher than ordinary leather, and resist water better. Only the belly
pieces are used.
Some few years ago during a very heavy rain, a number of alligators got
taken out of the lake by a small river running into the sea, which was
greatly flooded. They were immediately attacked by the sharks, and a
strange battle ensued between these equally voracious monsters, which
all the people of the village flocked out to witness. The battle lasted
all day, and the noise of the combat could be heard half a mile off.
John Shark was, however, more at home in his native element than his
scaly antagonist, and eventually the alligators were all eaten up or
killed.
THE SCENERY OF THE MEXICAN LOWLANDS.
FELIX L. OSWALD.
[Mexico is made up of two distinctively different regions; one,
the central plateau, temperate in climate, and marked by a
great dearth of rainfall; the other, the lowland areas between
the plateau and the bordering oceans, tropical in climate and
productions, and luxuriant from abundant rains. Dr. Oswald, in
the following selection, leads us through the Valley of Oaxaca,
a section of this Tierra Caliente, or warm country, and makes
us familiar with its interesting vegetable and animal
productions and its scenic features.]