Thy head proud and high! white brow to the sky! Thy features the thunderbolts dare! Thou o’erlookest the wall would the boldest appal Who enter Yosemite’s “Lair.”[2] Fair “Bridal Veil Fall!” the queen over all, In beauty and grace intertwined! Even now from thy height water-rockets of light Dart away, and seem floating in wind! And thou, high “Scho-look!” proud “Ah-wah-ne!” invoke To receive from “Kay-o-pha”[3] a boon! That flowing from pines, in the region of vines, May temper the heat of bright noon. “Nevada” and “Vernal,” emblems eternal Of winter and loveliest Spring, No language so bold the truth can unfold-- No pen can thee offerings bring! And yet dare I say, of the cool “Vernal Spray,” In the flash of the bright sun’s power, I welcome thy “ring,”[4] though a drenching it bring, The smile of a god’s in the shower! And thou, “Glacier Fall,”[5] from thy adamant wall, And winter-bound lakes at thy head-- Thy nymphs never seen, except by the sheen So fitful from “Mirror Lake’s” bed. Ye North and South Domes,[6] “Ten-ie-ya’s” lake homes, “Cloud’s Rest,” and high “Tis-sa-ack” lone; Mute “Sentinel,” “Brothers,” ye “Starr King,” ye others-- Oh! what of the past have ye known? To you has been given the mission from heaven To watch through the ages of earth! Your presence sublime is the chronicled time, From the æon the world had birth! [Illustration: VIEW OF THE YOSEMITE. Looking up the valley from a height of about 1,000 feet above the Merced River, and above sea level 5,000 feet, giving some faint idea of the beauty, grandeur and magnitude of this magnificent work of nature.] DISCOVERY OF THE YOSEMITE. CHAPTER I. Incidents leading to the discovery of the Yosemite Valley--Major Savage and Savages--Whiskey, wrangling and War--Skinned Alive--A brisk Fight--Repulse--Another Fight, and Conflagration.