The ~minor falls~ are very beautiful in early spring but all are ephemeral, blooming delightfully with the melting of snows, but dying in summer. Largest and best known are the Cascade Falls, which drop 594 feet over the north wall of the lower Merced Canyon and form one of the chief objects of interest in the ride from El Portal to Yosemite. Ribbon Fall, highest of all, descends delicately in one 1612-foot leap into a recess just west of El Capitan. From the rugged south wall Widow's Tears pours 1170 feet to the rock talus. Just west of Sentinel Rock is a series of picturesque cascades which, in spring, are dignified by the name of Sentinel Falls. Royal Arch Fall is one of the most beautiful but most ephemeral of the small falls. During sudden rainstorms or usually rapid thaws, supplementary falls pour into the valley over many of its ramparts. John Muir describes the storm of 1871 in which fifty-six such cataracts appeared in the upper end of Yosemite Valley. YOSEMITE VILLAGE On the banks of the Merced where once stood Haw-kaw-koo´-e-tah, the home of the Yo-ham´-i-te tribe, is Yosemite Village. The accompanying map, drawn May 1, 1920, indicates all places of public interest, but on account of contemplated building activities several changes may be expected within the next few seasons. Yosemite has recently been granted a second-class postoffice with branches at Camp Curry and Yosemite Lodge and with free delivery service to camps on the valley floor. At the U.S. National Park Service Administrative Building are the offices of the Park Superintendent, Chief Ranger and other executive officers. In front of the building is a free information bureau with a park ranger in charge. Government maps and bulletins may here be obtained free or at a very nominal cost. Adjacent is a motorists' information bureau maintained by the California State Automobile Association. At the left entrance is the telegraph and telephone office maintained by the government. The Yosemite Museum, which contains many excellent exhibits of the flora and fauna of the region is temporarily housed in this building. Hotel accommodations in Yosemite Valley are limited to one hotel and two large hotel-camps. The Sentinel Hotel in Yosemite Village, though offering good service and a splendid cuisine, has been outgrown and will soon be superseded by a very much larger and more modern building. Camp Curry, a large hotel-camp about one mile east of the village on the road to Happy Isles, is delightfully situated beneath Glacier Point, an ideal spot from which to view the famous "Fire Fall," a beautiful cataract of fire which is nightly pushed from the cliff 3000 feet above. The camp has a wide reputation for its democratic atmosphere. [Illustration: Map of Yosemite Village. LEGEND = Road === Sec. Road --- Footpath