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to sheep one afternoon as i gazed over the rolling stretching southward seeking a way and counting how far i might go without food a rifle shot rang out sharp and the clear marking the direction i pushed gladly on hoping to find some hunter who could spare a little food within a few hundred rods i struck the track of a shod horse which led to the camp of two indian one of them was cooking supper when i arrived glancing at me he saw that i was hungry and gave me some mutton and bread and said as he pointed to the west soon indian come heap speak english toward two thousand sheep beneath a cloud of dust came streaming through the grand to a meadow below the camp and presently the english speaking shepherd came in to whom i explained my wants and what i was doing like most white men he could not conceive how anything other than gold could be the object of such as mine and asked repeatedly whether i had discovered any mines i tried to make him talk about trees and the wild animals but unfortunately he proved to be a tame indian from the had been to school claimed to be civilized and spoke contemptuously of wild indians and so of course his inherited instincts were or lost the big trees he said grew far south for he had seen them in crossing the mountains from to lone pine in the morning he kindly gave me a few pounds of flour and assured me that i would get plenty more at a on the south fork our national if i reached it before it vas shut down for the of all the forest the section on the north fork seemed the finest surpassing i think even the giant forest of the southward from here though the width and general of the belt is well sustained i thought i could detect a slight falling off in the height of the trees and in of growth all the basin was swept by of the southern part over and over again until not a leaf within reach was left on the the outer edges of the beds or even on the young which unless under the stress of dire famine sheep never touch of course suffered i made search for grassy sheep proof spots him loose one evening on the side of a he the desolate neighborhood without finding anything that even a starving mule could eat then utterly he stole up behind me while i was bent over on my knees making a fire for tea and in a pitiful mixture of and begged for help it was a mighty touching prayer and i answered it as well as i could with half of what was left of a cake made from the last of the flour given me by the indians hastily passing it over my shoulder and saying yes poor fellow i know but soon yon have plenty to the row down we go to and speaking to him as if he were human as through stress of trouble plainly he was after eating his portion of bread he seemed content for he said no more but patiently turned away to such clinging confiding dependence after all our and adventures together was very touching and i felt conscience stricken for having led him so far in so rough and desolate a country man says lord bacon is the god of the dog so also he is of the mule and many other dependent fellow mortals next morning i turned westward determined to force a way straight to pasture letting wait fortunately ere we had struggled down through half a mile of we heard a mill whistle for which we gladly made a bee line at the we both got a good meal then taking the dusty lumber road pursued our way to the the nearest good pasture i counted might be thirty or forty miles away but scarcely had we gone ten when i noticed a little log cabin a hundred yards or so back from the road and a tall man straight as a pine standing in front of it observing us as we came down through the dust seeing no sign of grass or hay i was going past without stopping when he shouted then drawing nearer where have you come from i did n t our national notice you go up i replied i had come through the woods from the north looking at the trees oh then you must be john halt you re tired come and rest and i cook for you then i explained that i was tracing the belt that on account of sheep my mule was starving and therefore must push on to the no no he said that over there is full of hay and grain turn your mule into it i don t own it but the fellow who does is lumber and it will be all right he s a white man come and rest how tired you must be the big trees don t go much farther south i know the country up there have hunted all over it come and rest and let your little rat of a mule rest how in heavens did you get him across the roll him or carry him he s poor but he get fat and i give you a horse and go with you up the mountains and while you re looking at the trees i u go hunting it will be a short job for the end of the big trees is not far of course i stopped no true invitation is ever declined he had been hungry and tired himself many a time in the rocky mountains as well as in the now he owned a band of cattle and lived alone his cabin was about eight by | 28 |
ten feet the door at one end a fireplace at the other and a bed on one side fastened to the logs leading me in without a word of mean apology the he made me lie down on the bed then reached under it brought forth a sack of apples and advised me to keep at them until he got supper ready finer hospitality i never found in all this good world so often called selfish next day with hearty easy alacrity the procured horses prepared and packed provisions and got everything ready for an early start the following morning well mounted we pushed rapidly up the south fork of the river and soon after noon were among the giants once more on the divide between the and deer creek a central camp was made and the spent his time in deer hunting while with provisions for two or three days i the woods and in accordance with what i had been told soon reached the southern extremity of the belt on the south fork of deer greek to make sure i searched the woods a considerable distance south of the last deer creek grove passed over into the basin of the and climbed several high points commanding extensive views over the sugar pine woods without seeing a single crown in all the wide expanse to the southward on the way back to camp however i was greatly interested in a grove i discovered on the east side of the river divide opposite the north fork of deer creek the height of the pass where the species crossed over our national is about feet and i heard of still another grove whose waters drain into the upper opposite the middle fork of the it appears therefore that though the belt is two hundred and sixty miles long most of the trees are on a section to the south of kings river only about seventy miles in length but though the area occupied by the species so much to the southward there is but little difference in the size of the trees a of twenty feet and height of two hundred and seventy five is perhaps about the average for anything like mature and situated are not rare and a good many approach a height of three hundred feet occasionally one meets mr fee in ji rarely o e that is larger the majestic stump on kings river is the largest i saw and measured on the entire trip careful search around the boundaries of the forests and and in the of the belt failed to discover any trace of the former existence of the species beyond its present limits on the contrary it seems to be slightly extending its boundaries for the occasionally met a mile or two from the main bodies are young instead of old trees ancient ruins and the and root the big trunks make in falling were found in all the groves but none outside the of them we may therefore conclude that the area covered by the species has not been diminished during the last eight or ten thousand years and probably not at all in times for admitting that upon those supposed to have been once covered by every tree may have fallen and that fire and the weather had left not a of them many of the made by the fall of the ponderous trunks weighing five hundred to nearly a thousand tons and the made by their roots would remain visible for thousands of years after the last of the trees had vanished some of these records would doubtless be in a comparatively short time by the of but no part of them would remain engraved on flat ridge tops free from such action in the northern groves the only ones that at first came under the observation of students there are but few and young trees to take the places of the old ones therefore the species was as doomed to speedy as being n n in the so called struggle for life and into its last in moist where conditions are favorable but the majestic continuous forests of the south end of the belt create a very different impression here our national as we have seen no tree in the forest is more established nevertheless it is vaguely said that the climate is drying out and that this constantly increasing will of itself surely king though sections of wood rings show that there has been no change of climate the last forty centuries that can w and is growing on as dry ground as any of its neighbors or rivals we have seen proved over and over again why then it will be asked are the big tree groves always found on well watered spots simply because big trees give rise to streams it is a mistake to suppose that the water is the cause of the groves being there on the contrary the groves are the cause of the water being there the roots of this immense tree fill the ground forming a which the of the clouds and sends it forth in clear streams instead of it to rush headlong in short lived destructive floods is also checked and the air kept still in the shady s l i while mr robber d j shut out since then it appears that can and does grow on as dry ground as its neighbors and that the greater moisture found with it is an effect rather than a cause of its presence the notions as to the former greater extension of the the species and its near approach to based on its supposed dependence on greater moisture are seen to be indeed all my observations go to show that in case of prolonged the sugar pines and would die before again if the and irregular distribution of the species be interpreted as the result of the of | 28 |
the range then instead of increasing in individuals toward the south where the is less it should if then its peculiar distribution has not been governed by superior conditions of soil and moisture by what has it been governed several years before i made this trip i noticed that the northern groves were on those parts of the soil belt that were first laid bare and opened to when the ice sheet began to break up into individual and when i was examining the basin of the san and trying to account for the absence of when every condition seemed favorable for its growth it occurred to me that this remarkable gap in the belt is in the channel of the great ancient of the san and kings river which poured its frozen floods to the plain fed by the that fell on more than fifty miles of the summit peaks of the range constantly brooding on the question i next perceived that the great gap in the belt to our national the northward forty miles wide between ihe and groves occurs in the channel of the great and and that the smaller gap between the and groves occurs in the channel of the smaller the wider the ancient the wider the g p in the belt while the groves and forests attain their greatest development in the and river just where owing to conditions the region was first cleared and warmed while protected from the main that flowed past to right and left down the kings and valleys in general where the ground on the belt was first cleared of ice there the now is and where at the same elevation and time the ancient lingered there the is not what the other conditions may have been which enabled the to establish itself upon these oldest and warmest parts of the main soil belt i cannot say i might venture to state however that since the forests present a more and more ancient and long established aspect to the southward the species was probably distributed from the south toward the close of the period before the arrival of other trees about this branch of the question however there is at present much fog but the general relationship we have pointed out between the distribution of the big tree and the the ancient system is clear and when we bear in mind that all the existing forests of the are growing on comparatively fresh soil and that the range itself has been recently and brought to light from beneath the ice mantle of the winter then many lawless mysteries vanish and take their places but notwithstanding all the observed phenomena bearing on the post history of this colossal tree point to the conclusion that it never was more widely distributed on the since the close of the epoch that its present are scarcely past prime if indeed they have reached prime that the day of the species is probably not half done yet when from a wider outlook the vast antiquity of the is considered and its ancient richness in species and individuals comparing our giant and of the coast the only other species with the many species already discovered and described by and some of which flourished over large around the circle and in europe and our own during and times then indeed it becomes plain that our two species to narrow within the limits of are mere of the both as to species and individuals and our national that they probably are to but the verge of a period beginning in times may have a breadth of of thousands of years not to mention the possible existence of conditions calculated to and both species and individuals no change of climate so far as i can see no disease but only fire and the axe and the of flocks and herds threaten the existence of these noblest of god s trees in nature s keeping they are safe but through man s agency destruction is making rapid progress while in the work of protection only a beginning has been made the grove belongs to and is guarded by the state the general grant and national established ten years ago are guarded by a troop of cavalry under the direction of the secretary of the interior so also are the small and groves which are included in the national park while a few scattered patches and scarce at all protected though belonging to the national government are in the forest perhaps more than half of all the big trees have been sold and are now in the hands of and mill men even the beautiful little grove of ninety trees so interesting from its being the first discovered is now owned together with the much the larger south or grove by a lumber company far the largest and most important section of protected big trees is in the grand national park now easily accessible by stage from it contains seven and extends across the whole breadth of the magnificent basin but large as it is it should be made much larger its natural eastern boundary is the high and the northern and southern boundaries the kings and rivers thus the sublime scenery on the of these rivers and perhaps nine of all the big trees in existence private claims cut and both of the as well as all the best of the forests every one of which the government should gradually by purchase as it readily may for none of these are of much value to their owners thus as far as possible the grand blunder of selling would be corrected the value of these forests in and the of the mountain clouds is infinitely greater than lumber or sheep to the of the plain dependent on the big tree leaving all its higher uses out of the count is a tree of life a failing spring sending water | 28 |
to the all through the hot summer for every grove cut down a stream is dried up therefore all is crying save the our national trees of the fountains nor judging by the signs of the times is it likely that the cry will cease until the salvation of all that is left of is sure chapter x the forests the forests of america however by man must have been a great delight to god for they were the best he ever planted the whole continent was a garden and from the beginning it seemed to be favored above all the other wild and gardens of the globe to prepare the ground it was rolled and in seas with infinite loving deliberation and lifted into the light and warmed over and over again pressed and into folds and mountains and hills with heaving fires and ground and into scenery and soil with and rivers every feature growing and changing from beauty to beauty higher and higher and in the of time it was planted in groves and and broad forests with the largest most varied most fruitful and most beautiful trees in the world bright seas made its border wave and gray deserts were in the middle of it national on the north on the and blooming and plains while lakes and rivers shone through all the vast forests and and happy birds and beasts gave delightful animation everywhere everywhere over all the blessed continent there were beauty and melody and kindly wholesome f ul abundance these forests were composed of about five hundred species of trees all of them in some way useful to man in size from twenty five feet in height and less than one foot in at the to four hundred feet in height d jl th feet in di the gospel of beauty like for many a century after the ice were melted nature fed them and dressed them every day working like a man a loving devoted gardener every leaf and flower and bending painting them with the loveliest colors bringing over them now clouds with shadows and showers now sunshine them with gentle winds and rustling their leaves them in every fibre with storms and them them with flowers and fruit them with snow and ever making them more beautiful as the years rolled by wide oak and elm in endless variety and the american forests chestnut and and touching limb to limb spread a leafy along the coast of the atlantic over the wrinkled folds and of the a green sea in summer golden and purple in autumn gray like a steadfast frozen mist of branches and in winter to the southward stretched dark level in tangled grassy in the midst of them like lakes of light groves of gay sparkling trees and palms glossy and blooming and shining continually to the northward over and rose hosts of white pine and and shoulder to shoulder laden with purple their needles sparkling and covering hills and rocky and ever bravely and seeking the sky the ground in their shade now snow clad and frozen now and meadows here and there full of lilies and grass lakes gleaming like eyes and a silvery of rivers and watering and brightening all the vast glad wilderness thence westward were oak and elm and and and ash and laurel spreading on ever wider in glorious over the great fer our national tile basin of the over damp level low hollows and hills a d park half sunshine half shade while a dark wilderness of pines covered the region around the great lakes thence still westward swept the forests to right and left around grassy plains and deserts a thousand miles wide irrepressible hosts of and pine and willow nut pine and and caring nothing for ending und from mountain to mountain over and desert to join the darkening multitudes of pines that covered the high rocky and the glorious forests along the coast of the moist and pacific where new species of pine giant and silver and kings of their race growing close together like grass in a meadow poised their brave and in the sky three hundred feet above the and the lilies that the ground towering serene through the long centuries preaching god s fresh from heaven here the forests reached their highest development hence they went wavering northward over icy brave and fir and by the and the rivers to within sight of the ocean american forests the glory of the world surveyed thus from the east to the west from the north to the south the american forests they are rich beyond thought immortal enough and to spare for every feeding beast and bird insect and son of adam and nobody need have cared had there been no pines in no and on and the no vine in the basin of the with such variety harmony and triumphant even nature it would seem might have rested content with the forests of america and planted no more so they appeared a few centuries ago when they were rejoicing in the indians with stone could do them no more harm than could and even the fires of the indians and the fierce lightning seemed to work together only for good in clearing spots here and for smooth garden and for seeking the but when the steel axe of the white man rang out on the startled air their doom was sealed every tree heard the sound and pillars of smoke gave the sign in the sky i suppose we need not go mourning the in the nature of things they had to give place to better cattle though the change might have been made without barbarous wickedness likewise many of nature s five hundred kinds of wild trees had to make way for our national and in the settlement and civilization of the country more than timber or beauty | 28 |
was wanted and in the blindness of hunger the early claiming heaven as their guide regarded god s trees as only a larger kind of weeds extremely hard to get rid of accordingly with no eye to the f these pious interminable forest wars flew thick and fast trees in their beauty fell crashing by millions smashed to and the smoke of their burning has been rising to heaven more than two hundred years after the atlantic coast from to had been mostly cleared and into melancholy ruins the overflowing multitude of bread and money poured over the into the fertile middle west spreading ever wider and farther over the rich valley of the and the vast region about the great lakes thence still westward the of called made its fiery way over the broad rocky mountains and burning more fiercely than ever until at last it has reached the wild side of the continent and entered the last of the great forests on the shores of the pacific surely then it should not be wondered at that lovers of their country its are now crying aloud save what is left of the american forests the forests clearing has surely now gone far enough soon timber will be scarce and not a grove will be left to rest in or pray in the remnant protected wiu yield plenty of timber a harvest for every right use without further of its area and will continue to cover the springs of the rivers that rise in the mountains and give waters to the dry at their feet prevent wasting floods and be a to everybody forever every other civilized nation in tiie world has been compelled to care for its forests and so must we if waste and destruction are not to go on to the bitter end leaving america as barren as or spain in its moments in the midst of bewildering hunger and war and restless over industry has learned that the r t part ia hu n p and that the advance in civilization only makes it more indispensable it has therefore as shown by mr refused to deliver its forests to more or less speedy destruction by permitting them to pass into private but the state are not allowed to lie idle on the contrary they are made to produce as much timber ss is possible without them in the administration of its forests the state considers itself bound to treat them as a trust for tiie nation as a whole and to keep in view the common good of the people for all time our national in france no government forests have been sold since on the other hand about one half of the fifty million spent on has been given to works to make the of possible the disappearance of the forests in the first place it is claimed may be traced in most cases directly to mountain the provisions of the code concerning private are these no private owner may clear his without giving notice to the government at least four months in advance and the forest service may forbid the clearing on the following grounds to maintain the soil on mountains to defend the soil against and by rivers or torrents to the existence of springs or to protect the and etc a proprietor who has cleared his forest without permission is subject to heavy fine and in addition may be made to the cleared area in after many laws like our own had been foimd wanting the forest school was established in and soon after the forest law was which is binding over nearly two thirds of the country under its provisions the must and pay the number of educated required for the of the forest law and in the organization of a forest the american forests the object of first importance must be the cutting each year of an amount of timber equal to the total annual increase and no more the russian government passed a law in declaring that clearing is forbidden in protected forests and is allowed in others only when its effects will not be to disturb the suitable relations which should exist between forest and agricultural lands even is ahead of us in the management of her forests they cover an area of about million acres the lords valued the and vigorous laws and when in the latest civil war the government destroyed the system it declared the forests that had belonged to the lords to be the property of the state a forest law binding on the whole kingdom and founded a school of in the forest does not rest satisfied with the present proportion of but looks to planting the best forest trees it can find in any country if likely to be useful and to in in india forest management was begun about forty years ago under presented by the character of the country the of running fires opposition from etc not unlike those which us now of the total area of government forests perhaps seventy million acres fifty five our national million acres have been brought under the control of the department a larger area than that of all our national and the chief aims of the administration are effective protection of the forests from fire an efficient system of and cheap of the forest the results so far have been most and encouraging it seems therefore that almost every civilized nation can give us a lesson on the j and care of forests so far our government has done nothing effective with its forests though the best in the world but is like a rich and who has inherited a magnificent estate in perfect order and then has left his fields and meadows forests and to be sold and and wasted at will depending on their inexhaustible abundance now it is plain that the forests are not inexhaustible and | 28 |
that quick measures must be taken if ruin is to be avoided year by year the remnant is growing smaller before the axe and fire while ihe laws in existence provide neither for the protection of the timber from destruction nor for its use i where it is most needed as is shown by mr e a formerly of the public land service the foundation of our policy which has never protected is an act passed march which the secretary of the navy to reserve t the american forests lands producing live oak and for the sole purpose of supplying timber for the navy of the united states an extension of this law by the passage of the act of march provided that if any person should cut live oak or red trees or other timber from the lands of the united states for any other purpose than the construction of the navy such person should pay a fine not less than triple the value of the timber cut and be imprisoned for a period not exceeding twelve months upon this old law as mr points out having the construction of a wooden navy in view the united states government has to day chiefly to rely in protecting its timber throughout the arid regions of the west where none of the naval timber which the law had in mind is to be found by the act of june timber can be taken from public lands not subject to entry under any existing laws except for by of the mountain states and and the under the timber and stone act of the same date land in the pacific states and valuable mainly for timber and unfit for cultivation if the timber is removed can be purchased for two dollars and a half an acre under certain by the act of march all land grant and way are to take timber from the public lands adjacent to their lines our national for construction purposes and they have taken it with a vengeance destroying a hundred times more than they have used mostly by allowing fires to run in the woods the settlement laws under which a may enter lands valuable for timber as weu as for another means of obtaining title to public timber with the exception of the timber culture act under which in consideration of planting a few acres of on the plains got acres each the above is the only to protect and promote the planting of forests in no other way than under some one of these laws can a citizen of the united states make any use of the public forests to show the results of the timber planting act it need only be stated that of the thirty eight million acres entered under it less than one million acres have been this means that less than fifty thousand acres have been planted with almost hopeless of trees while at the same time the government has allowed millions of acres of the forest trees to be stolen or destroyed or sold for nothing under the act of june in and the were allowed to cut timber for and purposes from land which in the practical west means both cutting and burning anywhere and everywhere for any purpose on any sort of public land the american forests thus the the and and railroad companies are allowed by law to take all the timber they like for their mines and roads and the forbidden if there are no lands near his farm or stock or none that he knows of can hardly be expected to forbear taking what he needs wherever he can find it timber is as necessary as bread and no scheme of management to recognize and properly provide for this want can possibly be maintained in any case it will be hard to teach the that it is wrong to steal government timber taking from the government is with them the same as taking from nature and their no more in cutting timber from the wild forests than in drawing water from a lake or river as for and protection of forests it seems as silly and needless to them as protection and of the ocean would be both appearing to be boundless and inexhaustible the special land agents employed by the general land office to protect the public domain from timber are supposed to collect testimony to sustain and to such on behalf of the government which is represented by the district but timber thieves of the western class are seldom convicted for the good reason that most of the who try such cases are d our national themselves as g ty as those on trial the effect of the present and system has been to place the whole population in opposition to the and as of its as shown by mr we need only state that during the seven years from to the value of the timber reported stolen from the lands was and the amount recovered was while the cost of the services of special agents alone was to which must be added the expense of the trials thus for nearly thirty seven million dollars worth of timber the government got less than nothing and the value of that consumed by running fires during the same period without benefit even to thieves was probably over two hundred millions of dollars land and of the interior have repeatedly called attention to this state of affairs and asked to the requisite for reasonable reform but busied with etc has given no heed to these or other appeals and our forests the most valuable and the most of all the natural resources of the country are being robbed and burned more rapidly than ever the annual for so called protection service is hardly to keep twenty five timber agents in the field and as far as any efficient protection the american forests of timber is concerned | 28 |
brought into play to prevent a new growth the from the roots and are cut o e again and again with zealous concern as to the best time and method of making death sure in the of one of the largest on the coast we found thirty men at work last summer cutting off shoots in the dark of the moon claiming that all the and roots cleared at this time would send up no more shoots anyhow these vigorous almost immortal trees are killed at last and black are now their only monuments over most of the and burned the is the glory of the coast range it extends along the western slope in a nearly continuous belt about ten miles wide from beyond the boundary to the south of a distance of nearly four hundred miles and in massive sustained grandeur and of growth all the other timber woods of the our national world trees from ten to fifteen feet in and three hundred feet high are not uncommon and a few attain a height of three hundred and fifty feet or even four hundred with a at the base of fifteen to twenty feet or more while the ground beneath them is a garden of fresh lilies and this grand tree is surpassed in size only by its near relative or big tree of the if indeed it is surpassed the is certainly the taller of the two the a greater and is heavier more noble in port and more beautiful these two are all that are known to exist in the world though in former times the was common and had many species the is to the coast range and the big tree to the as timber the is too good to live the largest ever built are busy along its border with au the modem improvements but so immense is the yield per acre it will be long ere the supply is exhausted the big tree is also to some extent being made into lumber it is far less abundant than die and is fortunately less accessible extending along the western flank of the in a partially interrupted belt about two hundred and fifty miles long at a height of from four to eight road through the grove the american forests thousand feet above the sea the enormous logs too heavy to handle are into dimensions with a large portion of the best timber is thus shattered and destroyed and with the huge tops is left in ruins for tremendous fires that kill every tree within their range great and small still the species is not in danger of it has been planted and is flourishing over a great part of europe and magnificent sections of the forests have been reserved as national and state the grove near managed by the state of and the general grant and national on the kings and rivers guarded by a small troop of united states cavalry under the direction of the secretary of the interior but there is not a single specimen of the in any national park only by gift or purchase so far as i know can the government get back into its possession a single acre of this wonderful forest the legitimate demands on the forests that have passed into private as well as those in the hands of the government are increasing every year with the rapid settlement and of the country but the methods of are as yet in most mills only the best portions of the best trees are used while the ruins are left on the ground to feed national great fires which kill much of what is left of the less desirable timber together with the on which the of the forest depends thus every mill is a centre of destruction far more severe from waste and fire than from use the same thing is true of the mines which and destroy indirectly immense quantities of timber with their innumerable fires accidental or set to make open ways and often without regard to how far they run the deliberately sets fires to clear off the woods just where they are to lay the rocks bare and make the discovery of mines easier and their also set fires everywhere through the woods in the fall to the march of their countless flocks the next summer and perhaps in some places to improve the the axe is not yet at the root of every tree but the sheep is or was before the national were established and guarded hy the military the only effective and arm of the government free from the of politics not only do the at the time of the year set fire to everything that will bum but the sheep every green leaf not even the young when they are in a starving condition from crowding and they and the loose soil of the mountain sides for the spring floods to wash away and thus at last leave the ground barren r the american forests of all the that the woods the shake maker seems the happiest twenty or thirty years ago shakes a kind of long split with a and a were in great demand for covering and sheds and many are used still in preference to common especially those made from the which do not or crack in the sunshine drifting in after harvest and are over meet to discuss their plans for the winter and their talk is interesting once in a company of this kind i heard a man say as he peacefully smoked his pipe boys as soon as this job s done i m goin into the duck business there s big money in it and your costs nothing joe made five hundred dollars last winter on and shot em on the tied em in by the neck and em to san and when he was tired in the and touched | 28 |
is black and on either side there is a continuous border of black and logs and trees appealing to heaven for help as if still half alive and their mute eloquence is most touching the blackness is perfect on account of the superior skill of our workmen our national advantages of climate and the kind of trees the is generally deeper along our line and the ashes are deeper and the confusion and desolation displayed can never be n o other route on this continent so f the of desolation such a claim would be reasonable as each seems the whatever route you chance to take of course a way had to be cleared through the woods but the timber is not worked up into for the engines and into lumber for the company s use it is left lying in vulgar confusion and is fired from time to time by sparks from or by the workmen along the line the fires whether accidental or set are allowed to run into the woods as far as they may thus assuring comprehensive destruction the of a line that guarded against fires and cleared a clean gap edged with trees and fringed and with the grass and flowers and beautiful that are ever ready and willing to spring up might justly boast of the beauty of their road for nature is always ready to heal every but there is no such road on the western side of the continent last summer in the rocky mountains i saw six fires started by sparks from a within a distance of three miles and nobody was in sight to prevent them from spreading they might run into the adjacent forests the american forests and burn the timber from hundreds of square miles not a man in the state would care to spend an hour in fighting them as long as his own fences and buildings were not threatened notwithstanding all the waste and use which have been going on like a storm for more than two centuries it is not yet too late though it is high time for the government to begin a rational administration of its forests about seventy million acres it still owns enough for all the country if wisely used these forests are generally on mountain slopes just where they are doing the most good and where their removal would be followed by the greatest number of evils the lands they cover are too rocky and high for and can never be made as valuable for any other crop as for the present crop of trees it has been shown over and over again that if these mountains were to be stripped of their trees and and kept bare and by of sheep and the innumerable fires the set besides those of the shake makers and all sorts of both and mountains would speedily become little better than deserts compared with their present beneficent during heavy and while the winter of snow were melting the larger streams would swell into destructive torrents cutting deep rugged edged national carrying away the fertile and soil as well as sand and rocks filling up and overflowing their lower channels and covering the fields with raw and would follow in their natural condition or under wise management keeping out destructive sheep preventing fires selecting the trees that should be cut for lumber and preserving the young ones and the shrubs and sod of vegetation these forests would be a never failing fountain of wealth and beauty the cool shades of the forest give rise to moist beds and currents of air and the sod of and the various plants and shrubs thus together with the and of tree roots and hold back the rain and the waters from melting snow compelling them to and and flow gently through the soil in streams that never dry all the pine needles and and blades of grass and the fallen trunks of trees are the of the clouds and it in e streams instead of allowing it to gather suddenly and rush headlong in ting floods everybody on the dry side of the continent is beginning to find this out and in view of the waste going on is growing more and more anxious for government protection the we hear against forest come the american forests mostly from thieves who are wealthy and steal timber by they have so long been allowed to steal and destroy in peace that any to forest is as l cruel and interference with rights likely to the repose of all welfare gold gold gold how strong a voice that metal has o for the it is i even in a of gold carefully concealed will and all the nation on a subject like well smothered in ignorance and in which the money interests of only a few are involved under these circumstances the stuff the voice of god himself yet the dawn of a new day in is breaking honest citizens see that only the rights of the government are being trampled not those of the only what belongs to all alike is reserved and every acre that is left should be held together under the government as a basis for a general policy of administration for the public good the people will not always be deceived by selfish opposition whether from lumber and or from and however brought forward underneath and gold says that things refuse to be our national aged long an exception would seem to be found in the case of our forests which have been rather long and now come desperately near being like smashed eggs and milk still in the long run the world does not move backward the wonderful advance made in the last few years in creating four in the west and forest embracing nearly forty million acres and in the planting of the borders of streets and and spacious in all | 28 |
d up a pine tree when showing off to a spectator seeds wings and scale of sugar pine trying the bow a wind storm in the forests water and feeding one of the late summer feeding grounds of the entering a white current the at home birds snow bound at the foot of indian snow bound on mount list of illustrations page head op the ram head of rocky mountain wild sheep crossing a stream wild sheep jumping over a precipice indians hunting wild sheep a bee in lower wild bee garden in the san valley white sage a bee on a spur of the san range cardinal flower wild a bee in the wilderness a bee pasture on the desert spanish a bee keeper s cabin the mountains of the mountains of chapter i the go where you may within the bounds of mountains are ever in sight charming and every landscape yet so simple and massive is the of the state in general views that the main central portion only one valley and two chains of mountains which seem almost perfectly regular in and height the coast range on the west side the on the east these two coming together in curves on the north and south a magnificent basin with a level floor more than miles long and from to miles wide this is the grand central valley of the waters of which have only one outlet to the sea through the golden gate but with this general simplicity of features there is great of hidden detail the coast range rising as a grand green barrier against the ocean from to feet high is composed of innumerable forest crowned spurs and rolling hill waves which a multitude of smaller valleys some looking out through long the mountains of forest lined to the sea others with but few trees to the central valley while a thousand others yet smaller are and concealed in mild round hills each with its own climate soil and productions making your way through the of the coast range to the summit of any of the inner peaks or passes opposite san in the clear the and most telling of all is before you at your feet lies the great central valley glowing golden in the sunshine extending north and south farther than the eye can reach one smooth lake like bed of fertile soil along its eastern margin rises the mighty miles in height like a smooth cloud in the sunny sky and so colored and so luminous it seems to be not clothed with light but wholly composed of it like the wall of some celestial city along the top and extending a good way down you see a pale pearl gray belt of snow and below it a belt of blue and dark purple marking the extension of the forests and along the base of the range a broad belt of rose purple and yellow where lie the s and the foot hill gardens all these colored smoothly make a wall of light fine and as beautiful as a rainbow yet firm as when i first enjoyed this superb view one glowing april day from the summit of the pass the central valley but little trampled or as yet was one rich sheet of golden and the luminous wall of the mountains the shone in all its glory then it seemed to me the should be called not the or snowy range but the range of light and after ten years spent in the heart of it rejoicing and wondering bathing in its glorious floods of light seeing the of morning among the icy peaks the radiance on the trees and rocks and snow the flush of the and a thousand dashing with their abundance of spray it still seems to me above all others the range of light the most beautiful of all the mountain chains i have ever seen the is about miles long miles wide and from to nearly feet high in general views no mark of man is visible on it nor anything to suggest the richness of the life it or the depth and grandeur of its none of its magnificent forest crowned rises much above the general level to publish its wealth no great valley or lake is seen or river or group of well marked features of any kind standing out in distinct pictures even the summit peaks so clear and high in the sky seem comparatively smooth and nevertheless are still at work in the shadows of the peaks and thousands of lakes and meadows shine and bloom beneath them and the whole range is with to a depth of from to feet in which once flowed majestic and in which now flow and sing a band of beautiful rivers though of such depth these famous are not raw gloomy jagged walled savage and inaccessible with rough passages here the mountains op and there they still make delightful for the conducting from the fertile to the highest icy fountains as a kind of mountain streets full of charming life and light and by the ancient and presenting throughout all their courses a rich variety of novel and attractive scenery the most attractive that has yet been discovered in the mountain of the world in many places especially in the middle region of the western flank of the range the main into spacious valleys or like artificial landscape gardens with charming groves and meadows and of blooming bushes while the lofty retiring walls infinitely varied in form and are fringed with plants of many species oaks and which find on a thousand narrow steps and benches while the whole is and made glorious with rejoicing streams that come dancing and foaming over the sunny brows of the cliffs to join the shining river that flows in tranquil beauty down the middle of each one of them the walls of | 28 |
these park valleys of the kind are made up of rocks mountains in size partly separated from each other by narrow and side and they are so sheer in front and so built together on a level floor that seen the they look like immense halls or temples lighted from above every rock seems to glow with life some lean back in majestic repose others absolutely sheer the mountains of or nearly so for thousands of feet advance their brows in thoughtful attitudes beyond their companions giving welcome to storms and alike seemingly conscious yet heedless of everything going on about them awful in stern majesty types of yet associated with beauty of the and most fleeting forms their feet set in pine groves and gay meadows their brows in the sky bathed in light bathed in floods of singing water while snow clouds and the winds shine and and about them as the years go by as if into these mountain nature had taken pains to gather her treasures to draw her lovers into close and confiding communion with her here too in the middle region of deepest are the forest trees the king of the noble sugar and yellow pines and the silver each a giant of its kind assembled together in one and the same forest surpassing all other forests in the world both in the number of its species and in the size and beauty of its trees the winds flow in melody through their colossal and they are everywhere with the songs of birds and running water miles of fragrant and bushes bloom beneath them and lily gardens and meadows and damp in endless variety of fragrance and color compelling the admiration of every observer sweeping on over ridge and valley these noble trees extend a continuous belt from end to end of the range only slightly interrupted by sheer walled at in the of about fifteen and twenty miles here the great brown bears delight to with the brown of the trees beneath which they feed deer also dwell here and find food and shelter in the with a multitude of smaller people above this region of giants the trees grow smaller until the utmost limit of the timber line is reached on the stormy mountain slopes at a height of from ten to twelve thousand feet above the sea where the dwarf pine is so lowly and hard beset by storms and heavy snow it is pressed into flat over the tops of which we may easily walk below the main forest belt the trees likewise in size frost and burning and alike the rose purple along the base of the range nearly all the famous gold region of and here it was that from every country under the sun assembled in a wild rush to seek their fortunes on the banks of every river and they have left their marks every gravel and bed has been desperately over and over again but in this region the pick and once with savage enthusiasm have been laid away and only is now being carried on to any considerable extent the in general is made up of low waving foot hills here and there with brush and trees and masses of slate colored gray and red with the smaller masses of slate rising abruptly from the dry grassy sod in leaning look like ancient in a deserted burying ground in early the mountains of spring say from february to april the whole of this foot hill belt is a paradise of bees and flowers refreshing rains then fall freely birds are busy building their nests and the sunshine is ana delightful but by the end of may the soil plants and sky seem to have been baked in an oven most of the plants to dust beneath the foot and the ground is full of cracks while the thirsty with eager longing through the burning glare to the snowy like clouds in the distance the trees mostly and thirty to forty feet high with thin foliage stand far apart and cast but little shade glide about on the rocks enjoying a constitution that no can dry and in amazing numbers whose tiny sparks of life seem to burn the brighter with the increasing heat in long trains in search of food friends in distress gather on the ground beneath the best panting with drooping wings and bills wide open scarce a note from any of them during the midday hours too seek the shade during the heat of the day about pools in the channels of the larger mid river streams from thicket to thicket among the bushes and occasionally a long hare is seen gracefully across the wider the nights are calm and during the summer and a thousand voices proclaim the abundance of life notwithstanding the effect of dry sunshine on the plants and larger animals the make the a delightfully pure and tranquil music after sunset and the little despised dogs of the wilderness brave hardy fellows looking like withered of hay bark in chorus for hours most of them dead and a few living ones with bright bits of cultivation about them occur at long intervals along the belt and cottages covered with climbing roses in the midst of orange and and sweet scented hay fields in fertile where water for may be had but they are mostly far apart and make scarce any mark in general views every winter the high and the middle forest region get snow in glorious abundance and even the foot hills are at times then all the range looks like a vast wall of purest marble the rough places are then made smooth the death and decay of the year is covered gently and kindly and the ground seems as clean as the sky and though silent in its flight from the clouds and when it is taking its place on rock or | 28 |
tree or grassy meadow how soon the gentle snow finds a voice slipping from the heights gathering in it and like thunder and makes a glorious show as it sweeps down the mountain side arrayed in long silken and of dust the north half of the range is mostly covered with floods of and dotted with and some of them recent and perfect in form others in various stages of decay the south half is composed of granite nearly from base to summit while a considerable number of peaks in the middle the mountains of of the range are with among which are and to the east of valley mount the point of the range near its southern extremity lifts its shaped crest to a height of nearly feet mount a colossal rises to a height of feet at the northern extremity and forms a noble for all the surrounding region within a of a hundred miles masses of rocks occur throughout most of the southern portion also and a considerable number of old on the especially along the eastern base of the range near lake and southward but it is only to the northward that the entire range from base to summit is covered with from the summit of mount only granite is seen innumerable peaks and but little lower than its own storm beaten rise in groups like forest trees in full view by of tremendous depth and on nearly every feature in the vast view speaks of the old fires far to the northward in the icy of mount and the three sisters rise above the dark woods southward innumerable smaller and are distributed along the of the range and on each flank of these s is the highest being nearly feet above sea level miles of its are and with hot springs many of them so boisterous and they seem ever ready to become like those of the the the near marks the most recent in the it is a about feet high covered with gray and ashes and has a regular unchanged on its summit in which a few small pines are growing these show that the age of the is not less than eighty years it stands between two lakes which a short time ago were one before the was built a flood of rough was poured into the lake cutting it in two and overflowing its banks the fiery flood advanced into the pine woods overwhelming the trees in its way the ends of some of which may still be seen projecting from beneath the of the stream where it came to rest later still there was an of ashes and loose probably from the same vent which besides forming the scattered a over the surrounding woods for miles to a depth of from six inches to several feet the history of this last is also preserved in the traditions of the indians they tell of a fearful time of darkness when the sky was black with ashes and smoke that threatened every living thing with death and that when at length the sun appeared once more it was red like blood less recent in great numbers the adjacent region some of them with lakes in their throats others overgrown with trees and flowers nature in these old and having literally given beauty for ashes on the side of mount there is a subordinate the mountains of about feet below the summit which has been active subsequent to the breaking up of the main ice cap that once covered the mountain as is shown by its comparatively and the streams of from it the main summit is about a mile and a half in bounded by small crumbling peaks and among which we seek in vain for the outlines of the ancient these masses and the deep that the sides of the mountain show that it has been considerably lowered and wasted by ice how much we have no sure means of knowing just below the extreme summit hot and issue from irregular mixed with spray derived from melting snow the last feeble expression of the mighty force that built the mountain not in one great was given birth the of the summit and the sections exposed by the down the sides display enough of its internal to prove that comparatively long periods of between many distinct during which the ceased to flow and became permanent additions to the bulk of the growing mountain with alternate haste and deliberation succeeded till the old surpassed even its present sublime height standing on the icy top of this the of all the fire mountains of the we can hardly fail to look forward to its next gardens homes have been planted on the of which after remaining stead the mountains of fast for ages have suddenly blazed into violent action forth overwhelming floods of fire it is known that more than a thousand years of cool calm have between violent like gigantic rock instead of water work and rest and we have no sure of knowing whether they are dead when still or only sleeping along the western base of the range a telling series of rocks containing the early history of the are now being studied but leaving for the present these first chapters we see that only a very short time ago just before coming on of that winter of called the period a vast of rocks poured from many a chasm and on the and summit of the range filling lake and river channels and nearly every existing feature on the northern portion at length these all destroying floods ceased to flow but while the great built up along the still burned and smoked the whole passed under the domain of ice and snow then over the bald fire blackened mountains began to crawl covering them from the to the sea with a mantle of ice and then with infinite deliberation the | 28 |
work went on of the range anew these mighty agents of halting never through centuries crushed and ground the and beneath their folds wasting and building until in the of time the was born again brought to light nearly as we behold it to the day with and snow crushed pines at the top of the range wheat fields and orange groves at the foot of it this change from icy darkness and death to life and beauty was slow as we count time and is still going on north and south over all the world wherever exist whether in the form of distinct rivers as in the mountains of asia and the pacific coast or in continuous folds as in portions of joseph land and the lands about the south pole but in no country as far as i know may these majestic changes be studied to better advantage than in the plains and mountains of toward the close of the period when the snow clouds became less fertile and the melting waste of sunshine became greater the lower folds of the ice sheet in of into the sea began to shallow and from the and then move slowly up the of the in compliance with the changes of climate the great white mantle on the mountains broke up into a series of more or less distinct and river like with many and these again were melted and divided into still smaller until now only a few of the smallest branches of the grand system exist on the cool slopes of the summit peaks plants and animals their time closely followed the retiring ice quick and joyous animation on the new born pine trees marched up the sun warmed in the mountains of long hopeful taking the ground and establishing themselves as soon as it was ready for them brown fringed the shores of the lakes young rivers roared in the abandoned channels of the flowers around the feet of the great while with quick mellow beds of soil settling and offered food to multitudes of nature s waiting children great and small animals as well as plants deer bears etc the ground burst into bloom with rapidity and the young forests into life in every form warming and and growing richer as the years passed away over the mighty so lately suggestive of death and desolation only it is hard without long and loving study to realize the magnitude of the work done on these mountains during the last period by which are only streams of closely snow careful study of the phenomena presented goes to show that the pre condition of the range was comparatively simple one vast wave of stone in which a thousand mountains etc lay concealed and in the development of these nature chose for a tool not the earthquake or lightning to and split asunder not the stormy torrent or rain but the tender noiselessly falling through centuries the offspring of the sun and sea laboring in united strength they crushed and ground and wore away the rocks in their march making vast beds of soil and at the same time de the and fashioned the into the delightful variety of hill and and mountain that mortals call beauty perhaps more than a mile in average depth has the range been thus degraded during the last period a quantity of mechanical work almost great and our admiration must be excited again and again as we toil and study and learn that this vast job of so far reaching in its influences was done by agents so fragile and small as are these flowers of the mountain clouds strong only by force of numbers they carried away entire mountains by block by block and cast them into the sea fashioned all the range and developed its beauty all these new were evidently for the physical structure of the rocks on which the features of the scenery depend was acquired while they lay at least a mile deep below the pre surface and it was while these features were taking form in the depths of the range the of the rocks marching to their appointed places in the dark with reference to the coming beauty that the of icy in the sky marching to the same music assembled to bring them to the light then after their grand task was done these bands of snow flowers these mighty were melted and removed as if of no more importance than dew destined to last but an hour few however of nature s agents have left monuments so noble and enduring as they the great granite a mile high the as deep the noble peaks the valleys these and indeed the mountains of nearly all other features of the scenery are monuments contemplating the works of these flowers of the sky one may easily fancy them endowed with life messengers sent down to work in the mountain mines on errands of divine love silently flying through the darkened air to their appointed places they seem to have taken counsel together saying come we are feeble let us help one another we are many and together we will be strong marching in close deep ranks let us roll away the stones from these mountain and set the free let us these here let us a lake basin there a valley here a channel for a river with steps and brows for the plunge of yonder let us spread broad sheets of soil that man and beast may be fed and here pile trains of for pines and giant here make ground for a meadow there for a garden and grove making it smooth and fine for small and and beds of it well with and thus and so on it has seemed to me sang and planned and labored the hearty snow flower and nothing that i can write can possibly the grandeur and beauty of | 28 |
their work like morning mist they have vanished in sunshine all save the few small companies that still linger on the and as are still busily at work the last of the lake the last beds of soil and the of some of the highest peaks chapter h the of the small mentioned in the preceding chapter i have found sixty five in that portion of the range lying between latitude and they occur singly or in small groups on the north sides of the peaks of the high sheltered beneath broad frosty shadows in of their own making where the snow shooting down from the surrounding heights in is most abundant over two thirds of the entire number lie between latitude and and form the highest fountains of the san and s rivers the of like those of the are mere wasting of mighty that once filled the great valleys and poured into the sea so also are those of asia and south america even the grand continuous of ice that still cover joseph land parts of and the south region are and shrinking every in the world is smaller than it once was all the world is growing warmer or the crop of snow flowers is but in contemplating the condition of the of the the world we must bear in mind while trying to account for the changes going on that the same sunshine that them them every records the expenditure of an enormous amount of sun heat in lifting the for the snow of which it is made from the ocean to the mountains as strikingly shows the number of in the according to the brothers is of which may be regarded as and the total area of ice snow and is estimated at square miles or an average for each of little more than one square mile on the same authority the average height above sea level at which they melt is about feet the below feet and one of the reaches nearly as low a point one of the largest of the on the head waters of the does not according to captain descend below feet the largest of the on mount to within feet of the level of the sea which as far as i have observed is the lowest point reached by any within the bounds of the average height of all being not far from feet the changes that have taken place in the conditions of the from the time of greatest extension is well illustrated by the series of of every size and form extending along the mountains of the coast to a general of this instructive region shows that to the north of through and washington groups of active still exist on all the the mountains op high of the range mount the three sisters hood st baker and others some of them of considerable size though none of them approach the sea of these mountains in washington is the highest and its dome like summit between and feet high is with ice and eight seven to twelve miles long from it as a and form the sources of the principal streams of the state the lowest descending of this fine group flows through beautiful forests to within feet of the sea level and sends forth a river laden with mud and sand on through british and the broad sustained extending along the coast is generally the upper branches of nearly all the main and are occupied by which gradually increase in size and descend lower until the high region between mount and mount st is reached where a considerable number discharge into the waters of the ocean this is the ice land of and of the entire pacific coast northward from here the gradually in size and thickness and melt at higher in prince william sound and cook s many fine are displayed pouring from the surrounding mountains but to the north of latitude few if any remain the ground being mostly low and the light between latitude and there are probably more than not counting the smallest hundreds of the the largest size descend through the forests to the level of the sea or near it though as far as my own observations have reached after a pretty thorough examination of the region not more than twenty five discharge into the sea all the long high walled into which these great of the first class flow are of course crowded with of every conceivable form which are detached with thundering noise at intervals of a few minutes from an imposing ice wall that is thrust forward into deep water but these pacific coast are small as compared with those of and the region and only a few of them escape from the intricate system of channels with which this portion of the coast is fringed into the open sea nearly all of them are and drifted by wind and tide back and forth in the until finally melted by th ocean water the sunshine the warm winds and the copious rains of summer only one on the coast observed by its directly into the open sea at icy cape opposite mount st the of the that reach the sea a narrow picturesque about twenty miles to the of the mouth of the river in latitude the is called by the natives or thunder bay from the noise made by the discharge of the about one degree farther north there are four of these complete at the heads of the long arms of bay at the head of the still farther north there is one and at the head and around the sides of bay the mountains of in a general direction cross sound in latitude to there are seven of these complete pouring into the bay and its branches and keeping up an eternal thundering | 28 |
the largest of this group the has upward of and a width below the of the main of about twenty five miles between the west side of this icy bay and the ocean all the ground high and low excepting the peaks of the range is covered with a mantle of ice from to probably feet thick which by many distinct mouths this ice sheet and the immense about mount st together with the multitude of separate river like that load the slopes of the coast mountains evidently once formed part of a continuous ice sheet that flowed over all the region and only a comparatively short time ago extended as far southward as the mouth of the strait of de probably farther all the islands of the alexander as well as the and of the display telling traces of this great mantle that are still fresh and unmistakable they all have the forms of the greatest strength with reference to the action of a vast rigid press of ice from the north and and their have a smooth rounded appearance generally free from angles the intricate of channels straits passages sounds etc between the islands and extending into the of course the mountains of in their forms and and general characteristics the same to the grinding action of universal as to their origin and differ from the islands and banks of the only in being portions of the pre margin of the continent more deeply and therefore covered by the ocean waters which flowed into them as the ice was melted out of them the formation and extension of in this manner is still going on and may be witnessed in many places in bay bay and adjacent regions that the domain of the sea is being extended over the land by the wearing away of its shores is well known but in these icy regions of and even as far south as island the coast rocks have been so short a time exposed to wave action they are but little wasted as yet in these regions the extension of the sea effected by its own action in post time is scarcely as compared with that effected by ice action traces of the vanished made during the period of greater extension abound on the as far south as latitude even the polished rock the most of records are still found in a wonderfully perfect state of preservation on the upper half of the middle portion of the range and form the most striking of all the phenomena they occur in large irregular patches in the summit and middle regions and though they have been subjected to the action of the weather with its storms for thousands of years their mechanical excellence is such that they still reflect the like glass and the attract the attention of every observer the attention of the is seldom arrested by however regular and high they may be or by however deep or by rocks however noble in form and but he and his hands on the shining and tries hard to account for their mysterious he has seen the snow descending in but this cannot be the work of snow for he finds it where no occur nor can water have done it for he sees this glowing on the sides and tops of the highest only the winds of all the agents he knows seem capable of flowing in the directions indicated by the indians usually so little curious about phenomena have come to me occasionally and asked me what the ground so smooth at lake even horses and dogs gaze at the strange brightness of the ground and smell the polished spaces and place their feet cautiously on them when they come to them for the first time as if afraid of sinking the most perfect of the polished and walls lie at an elevation of from to feet above the sea where the rock is compact granite small dim patches may be found as low as feet on the and most enduring portions of sheer walls with a southern exposure and on compact swelling partially protected from rain by a covering of large on the north half of the range the and polished are less common not only because this part of the chain is lower but because the surface rocks are the mountains of chiefly subject to comparatively rapid waste the ancient also though well preserved on most of the south half of the range are nearly to the northward but their material is found scattered and a similar condition of the superficial records of action throughout most of washington british and due in great part to the action of excessive moisture even in where the most extensive on the continent are the more of the traces of their former greater extension though comparatively recent are more obscure than those of the ancient where the climate is and the rocks more resisting these general views of the of the pacific coast will enable my readers to see something of the changes that have taken place in and will throw light on the of the high prior to the autumn of the of the were unknown in october of that year i discovered the black mountain in a shadowy between black and bed mountains two of the peaks of the group this group is the highest portion of a spur that out from the main of the range in the direction of valley at the time of this interesting discovery i was exploring the n ve of the group and tracing the courses of the ancient that once poured from its ample fountains through the basin and the the valley not expecting to find any active so far south in the land of sunshine beginning on the extremity of the group i the chief in succession their es and splendid taking them in regular succession without any reference to | 28 |
the time consumed in their study the monuments of the that poured its ice from between and black mountains i found to be the most interesting of them all and when i saw its magnificent extending in majestic curves from the spacious between the mountains i was with the work that lay before me it was one of the golden days of the indian summer when the rich sunshine every landscape however rocky and cold and suggests anything rather than the path of the vanished was warm now and shone in many places as if washed with silver the tall pines growing on the stood in the glowing light the groves on the of the basin were masses of orange yellow and the added gold to gold pushing on over my rosy highway i passed lake after lake set in solid of granite and many a thicket and meadow watered by a stream that issues from the and links the lakes together now through knee deep in yellow and purple now passing over bare rock the main that bounded the view on either hand are from to nearly feet high and about as regular as artificial em the mountains of and covered with a superb growth of silver fir and pine but this garden and forest was speedily left behind the trees were as i ascended patches of the and began to appear and pressed into flat carpets by the winter snow the which a few miles down the valley were so richly embroidered with meadows had here at an elevation of feet only small brown of leaving bare rocks around more than half their shores yet amid this the mountain pine bravely tossed his storm beaten branches on the and of mountain some specimens being over feet high and feet in seemingly as fresh and vigorous as the giants of the lower evening came on just as i got fairly within the of the main it is about a mile wide and a little less than two miles long the crumbling spurs and of red mountain bound it on the north the rudely of black mountain on the south and a col around from mountain to mountain it in on the east i chose a ground on the brink of one of the lakes where a thicket of sheltered me from the night wind then after making a tin of tea i sat by my camp fire reflecting on the grandeur and significance of the records i had seen as the night advanced the mighty rock walls of my mountain mansion seemed to come nearer while the sky in glorious brightness stretched across like a ceiling from wall the to wall and fitted closely down into all the of the then after a long fireside rest and a glance at my note book i cut a few leafy branches for a bed and fell into the clear death like sleep of the tired early next morning i set out to trace the grand old that had done so much for the beauty of the region back to its farthest fountains enjoying the charm that every feels in nature s the voices of the mountains were still asleep the wind scarce stirred the pine needles the sun was up but it was yet too cold for the birds and the few animals that dwell here only the stream from pool to pool seemed to be wholly awake yet the spirit of the opening day called to action the came streaming through the jagged of the glancing on the and lighting the silvery lakes while every sun touched rock burned white on its edges like melting iron in a furnace passing round the north shore of my camp lake i followed the central stream past many from to the scenery became more rigidly the dwarf pines and disappeared and the stream was bordered with as the sun rose higher rocks were loosened on shattered portions of the cliffs and came down in rattling echoing wildly from to the main that extend from the jaws of the into the basin are continued in straggling masses along the walls of the while separate hun the mountains of of tons in weight are left here and there out in the middle of the channel here also i observed a series of small ranged along the south wall of the corresponding in size and form with the shadows cast by the highest portions the meaning of this correspondence between and shadows was afterward made plain tracing the stream back to the last of its chain of i noticed a deposit of fine gray mud on the bottom except where the force of the entering current had prevented its settling it looked like the mud worn from a and i at once suspected its origin for the stream that was carrying it came out of the base of a raw that seemed in process of formation not a plant or weather stain was visible on its rough unsettled surface it is from to over feet high and forward at an angle of cautiously picking my way i gained the top of the and was delighted to see a small but well down from the gloomy of black mountain in a finely curve to the on which i stood the compact ice appeared on all the lower portions of the though gray with dirt and stones in it farther up the ice disappeared beneath coarse snow the surface of the was further by dirt bands and the edges of the blue veins showing the structure of the ice the uppermost or where the was attached to the mountain was from to feet wide and was in a few places the by the remains of snow creeping along the edge of the holding on with fingers i discovered clear sections where the structure was beautifully revealed the surface snow though sprinkled with stones shot down from the | 28 |
many of the snow flowers out of which these are made fall before they are ripe while most of those that do attain perfect development as six and against one another in their fall through the frosty air and are broken into the mountains of fragments this dry snow is still further prepared for the formation of by the action of the wind for instead of finding rest at once like the snow which falls into the tranquil depths of the forests it is rolled over and over beaten against rock and in and hollows like pebbles and sand in the pot holes of a river until finally the delicate angles of the are worn off and the whole mass is reduced to dust and whenever storm winds find this prepared snow dust in a loose condition on exposed slopes where there is a free upward sweep to it is tossed back into the sky and borne onward from peak to peak in the form of or cloudy according to the of the wind and the of the slopes up or around which it is driven while thus flying through the air a small portion makes good ite el cape and remains in the sky as but far the greater part after being driven into the sky again and again is at length locked fast in or in the of some of it to remain silent and rigid for centuries before it is finally melted and sent singing down the to the sea yet notwithstanding the abundance of winter snow dust in the mountains and the of high winds and the length of time the dust remains loose and exposed to their action the occurrence of well formed is for causes we shall hereafter note comparatively rare i have seen only one display of this kind that seemed in every way perfect this was in the winter of when the the snow snow laden were swept by a wild i happened at the time to be in valley that sublime temple where every day one may see the sights yet even here the wild day of the north wind seemed glorious i was awakened in the morning by the rocking of my cabin and the beating of pine on the roof detached torrents and from the main wind flood overhead were rushing wildly down the narrow side and over the walls with loud roar rousing the pines to enthusiastic action and making the whole valley as though it were an instrument being played but afar on the lofty exposed peaks of the range standing so high in the sky the storm was expressing itself in still characters which i was soon to see in all their glory i had long been anxious to study some points in the structure of the ice that is formed every winter at the foot of the upper fall but the blinding spray by which it is invested had hitherto prevented me from making a sufficiently near approach this morning the entire body of the fall was torn into and blown along the face of the cliff leaving the dry and while making my way to the top of an overlooking ledge to seize so favorable an opportunity to examine the interior of the the peaks of the group came in sight over the shoulder of the south dome each waving a banner against the sky as regular in form and as firm in texture as if woven of fine silk so rare and splendid a the mountains of of course all other considerations and i at once let the ice go and began to force my way out of the valley to some dome or ridge sufficiently lofty to command a general view of the main feeling assured that i should find them still more nor was i in the least disappointed indian through which i climbed was choked with snow that had been shot down in from the high cliffs on either side rendering the ascent difficult but inspired by the roaring storm the tedious brought no fatigue and in four hours i gained the top of a ridge above the valley feet high and there in bold relief like a clear painting appeared a most imposing scene innumerable peaks black and sharp rose into the dark blue sky their set in solid white their sides and with snow like ocean rocks with foam and from every summit all free and was streaming a beautiful silvery banner from half a mile to a mile in length slender at the point of attachment then gradually as it extended from the peak until it was about or feet in breadth as near as i could estimate the cluster of peaks called the crown of the at the head of the and rivers with their nameless each had its own banner waving with a clearly visible motion in the and there was not a single cloud in the sky to mar their simple grandeur fancy yourself standing on this ridge looking eastward you notice a strange the snow glitter in the air the gale drives with a fierce roar but its violence is not felt for you are looking through a sheltered opening in the woods as through a window there in the immediate of your picture rises a majestic forest of silver fir blooming in eternal freshness the foliage yellow green and the snow beneath the trees strewn with their beautiful plucked off by the wind beyond and extending over all the middle ground are of pine interrupted by huge swelling and and just beyond the dark forest you see the of the high waving their magnificent they are twenty miles away but you would not wish them nearer for every feature is distinct and the whole glorious show is seen in its right proportions after this general view mark how sharply the dark ribs and and of the peaks are defined excepting | 28 |
the portions veiled by the and how delicately their sides are with snow where it has come to rest in narrow and mark too how the wave as the wind is against their sides and how each is attached to the very summit of its peak like a at a how smooth and they are in texture and how finely their fading are on the sky see how dense and they are at the point of attachment and how and toward the end so that the peaks back of them are seen dimly as though you were looking through ground glass yet again observe how some of the the mountains of longest belonging to the stream perfectly free all the way across intervening and passes from peak to peak while others and partly hide each other and consider how keenly every of this wondrous cloth of snow is flashing out of light these are the main features of the beautiful and terrible picture as seen from the forest window and it would still be glorious were the fore and altogether leaving only the black peaks the white and the blue sky glancing now in a general way at the formation of snow we find that the main causes of the wondrous beauty and perfection of those we have been contemplating were the favorable direction and great force of the wind the abundance of snow dust and the peculiar of the slopes of the peaks it is essential not only that the wind should move with great and to supply a sufficiently copious and continuous stream of snow dust but that it should come from the north no perfect banner is ever hung on the peaks by a south wind had the gale that day blown from the south leaving other conditions unchanged only a dull confused fog like drift would have been produced for the snow instead of being up over the tops of the peaks in concentrated currents to be drawn out as would have been shed off around the sides and piled down into the the cause of the concentrated action of the north wind is found in the peculiar form of the north sides of the peaks where the of the the snow are in general the south sides are and irregular while the north sides are both in their and sections the wind in ascending these curves toward the carrying the snow in currents with it shooting it almost straight up into the air above the peaks from which it is then carried away in a direction this difference in form between the north and south sides of the peaks was almost wholly produced by the difference in the kind and quantity of the to which they have been subjected the north sides having been by shadow of a form that never existed on the sun beaten sides it appears therefore that shadows in great part determine not only the forms of lofty icy mountains but also those of the snow that the wild winds hang on them chapter iv a near view of the high early one bright morning in the middle of indian summer while the meadows were still crisp with frost i set out from the foot of mount on my way down to valley to my exhausted store of bread and tea i had spent the past summer as many preceding ones exploring the that lie on the head waters of the san and s rivers measuring and studying their movements etc and the part they had played during the period of their greater extension in the creation and development of the of this the time for this kind of work was nearly over for the year and i began to look forward with delight to the approaching winter with its wondrous storms when i would be warmly snow bound in my cabin with plenty of bread and books but a tinge of regret came on when i considered that possibly i might not see this favorite region again until the next summer excepting distant views from the heights about the walls to artists few portions of the high are strictly speaking picturesque the whole massive a near view of the high of the range is one great picture not clearly into smaller ones much in this respect from the older and what may be called mountains of the coast range all the of the as we have seen were born again from base to summit by the developing of the last winter but all these new were not brought forth simultaneously some of the highest where the ice lingered longest are of centuries younger than those of the warmer regions below them in general the younger the mountain younger i mean with reference to the time of their from the ice of the period the less are they into artistic bits capable of being made into warm sympathetic pictures with humanity in them here however on the head waters of the is a group of wild peaks on which the may say that the sun has but just begun to shine which is yet in a high degree picturesque and in its main features so regular and balanced as almost to appear conventional one cluster of snow laden peaks with gray granite around its base the whole free into the sky from the head of a magnificent valley whose lofty walls are away on both sides so as to embrace it all without admitting anything not strictly belonging to it the was now with autumn colors brown and purple and gold ripe in the mellow sunshine brightly with the deep blue of the sky and the black and gray and pure the mountains op spiritual white of the rocks and down through the midst the young was seen pouring from its crystal fountains now resting in pools as if changing back again into ice now leaping in white | 28 |
as if turning to snow gliding right and left between granite then sweeping on through the smooth of the valley swaying from side to side with calm stately gestures past dipping and and around groves of pine and throughout its whole course whether flowing fast or slow singing loud or low ever filling the landscape with spiritual animation and the grandeur of its sources in every movement and tone pursuing my lonely way down the valley i turned again and again to gaze on the glorious picture throwing up my arms to it as in a frame after long ages of growth in the darkness beneath the through sunshine and storms it seemed now to be ready and waiting for the elected artist like yellow wheat for the and i could not help wishing that i might carry colors and with me on my travels and learn to paint in the mean time i had to be content with photographs on my mind and sketches in my note books at length after i had rounded a that puts out from the west wall of the valley every peak vanished from sight and i pushed rapidly along the frozen meadows over the divide between the waters of the and and down through the forests that clothe the slopes of cloud s best arriving in in due time which a near view of the high with me is any time and strange to say among the first people i met here were two artists who with letters of introduction were awaiting my return they inquired whether in the course of my in the adjacent mountains i had ever come upon a landscape suitable for a large painting whereupon i began a description of the one that had so lately excited my admiration then as i went on further and further into details their faces began to glow and i offered to guide them to it while they declared that they would gladly follow far or near i could spare the time to lead them since storms might come breaking down through the fine weather at any time burying the colors in snow and cutting off the artists retreat i advised getting ready at once i led them out of the valley by the and falls thence over the main dividing ridge to the big meadows by the old trail and thence along the upper river to its head this was my companions first excursion into the high and as i was almost always alone in my the way that the fresh beauty was reflected in their faces made for me a novel and interesting study they naturally were affected most of all by the colors the intense of the sky the of the granite the red and of dry meadows and the purple and crimson of the flaming yellow of groves the silvery flashing of the streams and the bright green and blue of the lakes but the general the mountains of sion of the scenery rocky and savage seemed sadly and as they the forest from ridge to ridge eagerly the as they were unfolded they said all this is huge and sublime but we see nothing as yet at all available for effective pictures art is long and art is limited you know and here are middle grounds all alike bare rock waves woods groves of meadow and of glittering water never mind i replied only bide a and i will show you something you will like at length toward the end of the second day the crown began to come into view and when we had fairly rounded the projecting before mentioned the whole picture stood revealed in the flush of the their enthusiasm was excited beyond bounds and the more impulsive of the two a young dashed ahead shouting and and tossing his arms in the air like a madman here at last was a typical landscape after awhile on the view i proceeded to make camp in a sheltered grove a little way back from the meadow where pine boughs could be obtained for beds and there was plenty of dry wood for fires while the artists ran here and there along the river and up the sides of the choosing for sketches after dark when our tea was made and a rousing fire had been built we began to make our plans they decided to remain several days at the least while i con a near view of the high to make an excursion in the mean time to the untouched summit of it was now about the middle of october the of snow flowers the first winter clouds had already and the peaks were strewn with fresh without however affecting the climbing to any dangerous extent and as the weather was still profoundly calm and the distance to the foot of the mountain only a little more than a day i felt that i was running no great risk of being storm bound mount bitter is king of the mountains of the middle portion of the high as of the north and of the south sections moreover as far as i know it had never been climbed i had the adjacent wilderness summer after summer but my studies thus far had never drawn me to the top of it its height above sea level is about feet and it is round by inclined and of tremendous depth and which render it almost inaccessible but difficulties of this kind only the next morning the artists went heartily to their work and i to mine former experiences had given good reason to know that passionate storms invisible as yet might be brooding in the calm therefore before bidding farewell i warned the artists not to be alarmed should i fail to appear before a week or ten days and advised them in case a snow storm should set in to keep up | 28 |
the scene was one of the most desolate i ever beheld but the darkest of the mountains are with bright passages of love the mountains op that never fail to make themselves felt when one is alone i made my bed in a nook of the pine thicket where the branches were pressed and overhead like a roof and bent down around the sides these are the best the high mountains afford snug as nests well full of and with plenty of wind played needles to sing one asleep i little expected company but creeping in through a low side door i found five or six birds among the the night wind began to blow soon after dark at first only a gentle breathing but increasing toward midnight to a rough gale that fell upon my leafy roof in ragged like a bearing wild sounds from the overhead the sang in chorus filling the old ice fountain with its solemn roar and seeming to increase in power as the night advanced fit voice for such a landscape i had to creep out many times to the fire during the night for it was biting cold and i had no blankets gladly i welcomed the morning star the dawn in the dry wavering air of the desert was glorious everything encouraged my undertaking and success there was no cloud in the sky no storm tone in the wind breakfast of bread and tea was soon made i fastened a hard crust to my belt by way of provision in case i should be compelled to pass a night on the mountain top then securing the remainder of my little stock against wolves and wood rats i set forth free and hopeful how glorious a greeting the sun gives the a near view of the high to behold this alone is worth the pains of any excursion a thousand times over the highest peaks burned like islands in a sea of liquid shade then the lower peaks and caught the glow and long of light streaming through many a and pass fell thick on the frozen meadows the majestic form of was full in sight and i pushed rapidly on over rounded rock and my iron shod shoes making a sound suddenly hushed now and then in of and lake soft as moss here too in this so called land of desolation i met growing in among the battered rocks her blossoms had faded long ago but they were still clinging with happy memories to the and still so beautiful as to thrill every of one s being winter and summer you may hear her voice the low sweet melody of her purple bells no among all the mountain plants speaks nature s love more plainly than where she dwells the of the solitude is complete the very rocks and seem to feel her presence and become with her own fountain sweetness all things were warming and awakening frozen began to flow the came out of their nests in piles and climbed sunny rocks to and the headed were flitting about seeking their the lakes seen from every ridge top were brilliantly and like the of the low dwarf pines the rocks too seemed to the vital heat rock and snow thrill the mountains of ing alike i strode on as if never more to feel fatigue limbs moving of themselves every sense like the flowers to take part in the new day harmony all along my course thus far excepting when down in the the were mostly open to me and at least on one side on the left were the purple plains of and warm on the right the near peaks springing keenly into the thin sky with more and more impressive but these larger views were at length lost rugged spurs and and huge projecting began to shut me in every feature became more rigidly without however producing any effect for going to the mountains is like going home we always find that the strangest objects in these fountain re in some degree familiar and we look upon them with a vague sense of having seen them before on the southern shore of a frozen lake i encountered an extensive field pf hard snow up which i in fine tone intending to follow it to its head and cross the rocky spur against which it hoping thus to come direct upon the base of the main bitter peak the surface was with oval hollows made by stones and drifted pine needles that had melted themselves into the mass by the of absorbed sun heat these afforded good but the surface curved more and more at the head and the became and less abundant until i found myself in danger of being a view of the high shed off like snow i persisted however creeping on all and shuffling up the places on my back as i had often done on granite until after slipping several times i was compelled to my course to the bottom and make my way around the west end of the lake and thence up to the summit of the divide between the head waters of rush greek and the of the san arriving on the summit of this dividing crest one of the most exciting pieces of pure wilderness was disclosed that i ever discovered in all my there immediately in front loomed the majestic mass of mount bitter with a down its face nearly to my f then westward and pouring its frozen flood into a dark blue lake whose shores wore bound with of snow while a deep chasm drawn between the divide and the separated the massive picture from everything else i could see only the one sublime mountain the one the one lake the whole veiled with one blue shadow rock ice and water close together without a single leaf or sign of life after gazing | 28 |
i began instinctively to every and and of the mountain with reference to making the ascent the entire front above the appeared as one tremendous precipice slightly receding at the top and with and set above one another in formidable array massive stood forward here and there the mountains of at the top with and separated by frosty and recesses that have been veiled in shadow ever since their creation while to right and left as far as i could see were huge crumbling offering no hope to the the head of the sends up a few finger like branches through narrow but these seemed too steep and short to be available especially as i had no ax with to cut steps and the numerous narrow down which stones and snow are seemed hopelessly steep besides being interrupted by cliffs while the whole front was rendered still more terribly forbidding by the chill shadow and the gloomy blackness of the rocks descending the divide in a hesitating mood i picked my way across the yawning chasm at the foot and climbed out upon the there were no meadows now to cheer with their brave colors nor could i hear the headed whose cheery notes so often relieve the silence of our highest mountains the only sounds were the of small down in the veins and of the and now and then the rattling report of falling stones with the echoes they shot out into the crisp air i could not distinctly hope to reach the summit from this side yet i moved on across the as if driven by fate with myself the season is too far spent i said and even should i be successful i might be storm bound on the mountain and in the cloud darkness with the cliffs and covered with snow how could i escape a ui h h use i unfit will si summer i oi y h w and i about is t i of fee h of the first z m in w tried how n of t there is ir is ri t ds as let th li f rail it may i the f rot of the an tie eastern cf the discovered the r of a through i to tt iv t g to follow it as far as ar d at obtain some fine wild views f or my pains its general course is to the plane of the and the of the mountain is built are cut by in such a way that they weather off in blocks giving rise to steps that greatly climbing on the sheer places i thus made my way into a wilderness of crumbling and built together in bewildering and glazed in many places with a thin of ice which i had to hammer off with stones the situation was becoming gradually more perilous but having passed several dangerous spots i dared not think of descending for so steep was the entire ascent one would inevitably fall to the in a single were made knowing therefore the tried danger beneath i became all the more concerning the to be made and began to be conscious of a vague of what actually not that i was given to four the mountains of but rather because my instincts usually so positive and true seemed in some way and were leading me astray at length after an elevation of about feet i found myself at the foot of a sheer drop in the bed of the channel i was tracing which seemed absolutely to bar further progress it was only about forty five or fifty feet high and somewhat by and but these seemed so slight and as that i tried hard to avoid the precipice altogether by the wall of the channel on either side but though less steep the walls were than the rock and repeated efforts only showed that i must either go right ahead or turn back the tried dangers beneath seemed even greater than that of the cliff in front therefore after its face again and again i began to scale it picking my holds with intense caution after gaining a point about to the top i was suddenly brought to a dead stop with arms clinging close to the face of the rock unable to move hand or foot either up or down my doom appeared fixed i must fall there would be a moment of bewilderment and then a lifeless down the one general precipice to the below when this final danger flashed upon me i became nerve shaken for the first time since setting foot on the mountains and my mind seemed to fill with a stifling smoke but this terrible lasted only a moment when life blazed forth again with clearness i seemed suddenly to become possessed of a new sense the other self a view op the high experiences instinct or guardian angel call it what you will came forward and assumed control then my trembling muscles became firm again every and flaw in the rock was seen as through a and my limbs moved with a and precision with which i seemed to have nothing at all to do had i been borne aloft upon wings my could not have been more complete above this memorable spot the face of the mountain is still more savagely and torn it is a of yawning and in the angles of which rise and piles of detached that seem to have been gotten ready to be launched below but the strange of strength i had received seemed inexhaustible i found a way without effort and soon stood upon the in the blessed light how truly glorious the landscape around this noble summit giant mountains valleys innumerable and meadows rivers and lakes with the wide blue sky bent tenderly over them all but in my first hour of freedom | 28 |
from that terrible shadow the sunlight in which i was seemed all in all looking southward along the of the range the eye is first caught by a row of exceedingly sharp and slender which rise openly to a height of about a thousand feet above a series of short that lean back against their their fantastic and the with which they spring out of the ice rendering them peculiarly wild and striking these the mountains of are the beyond them you behold a sublime wilderness of mountains their snowy towering together in crowded abundance peak beyond peak swelling higher higher as they sweep on southward until the point of the range is reached on mount near the head of the at an elevation of nearly feet above the level of the sea westward the general flank of the range is seen flowing away from the sharp in smooth a sea of huge gray granite waves dotted with lakes and meadows and with that grow steadily deeper as they in the distance below this gray region lies the dark forest broken here and there by and and yet beyond lies a yellow belt marking the broad plain of the san bounded on its farther side by the blue mountains of the coast turning now to the northward there in the immediate is the glorious crown with cathedral peak a temple of architecture a few degrees to the left of it the gray massive form of mountain to the right while tower peak castle peak silver mountain and a host of noble companions as yet nameless make a sublime show along the of the range eastward the whole region seems a land of desolation covered with beautiful light the basin of with its one bare lake fourteen miles long s valley and the broad table land at its head dotted with and w a the mountains op the massive range even the in height these are spread map like beneath you with countless beyond passing and one another and fading on the glowing horizon at a distance of less than feet below the summit of mount bitter you may find of the san and s rivers bursting forth from the ice and snow of the that load its while a little to the north of here are found the highest of the and thus the fountains of four of the principal rivers of are within a of four or five miles lakes are seen gleaming in all sorts of places round or oval or square like very others narrow and drawn close around the peaks like silver the highest reflecting only rocks snow and the sky but neither these nor the nor the bits of brown meadow and that occur here and there are large enough to make any marked impression upon the mighty wilderness of mountains the eye rejoicing in its freedom about the vast expanse yet returns again and again to the fountain peaks perhaps some one of the multitude special attention some gigantic castle with and or some g cathedral more abundantly than s but generally when looking for the first time from an all embracing like this the inexperienced observer is oppressed by the incomprehensible grandeur variety and abundance of the mountains rising shoulder to shoulder a near view of the high beyond the reach of vision and it is only after they have been studied one by one long and lovingly that their far reaching become manifest then penetrate the wilderness where you may the main telling features to which all the surrounding is subordinate are quickly perceived and the most complicated clusters of peaks stand revealed and fashioned like works of art eloquent monuments of the ancient ice rivers that brought them into relief from the general mass of the range the too some of them a mile deep wildly through the mighty host of mountains however lawless and at first sight they appear are at length recognized as the necessary effects of causes which followed each other in harmonious nature s poems carved on tables of stone the simplest and most emphatic of her m could we have been here to observe during the period we should have overlooked a wrinkled ocean of ice as continuous as that now covering the of filling every valley and with only the tops of the fountain peaks rising darkly above the rock ice waves like in a stormy sea those the only hints of the glorious now smiling in the sun standing here in the deep brooding silence all the wilderness seems motionless as if the work of creation were done but in the midst of this outer we know there is incessant motion and change ever and anon are falling from yonder peaks these cliff bound the mountains op seemingly and immovable are flowing like water and grinding the rocks beneath them the lakes are their granite shores and wearing them away and every one of these and young rivers is the air into music and carrying the mountains to the plains here are the roots of all the life of the valleys and here more simply than elsewhere is the eternal of nature manifested ice changing to water lakes to meadows and mountains to plains and while we thus contemplate nature s methods of landscape creation and reading the records she has carved on the rocks however imperfectly the of the past we also learn that as these we now behold have succeeded those of the age so they in turn are withering and vanishing to be succeeded by others yet but in the midst of these fine lessons and i had to remember that the sun was far to the west while a new way down the mountain had to be discovered to some point on the timber line where i could have a fire for i had not even myself with a coat i first the western | 28 |
spurs hoping some way might appear through which i might reach the northern and cross its or pass around the lake into which it flows and thus strike my morning track this route was soon sufficiently unfolded to show that if practicable at all it would require so much time that reaching camp that night would be out of the question i therefore scrambled back eastward descending the southern slopes at the same time here the seemed less f a view of the high able and the head of a that flows came in sight which i determined to follow as far as possible hoping thus to make my way to the foot of the peak on the east side and thence across the intervening and to camp the inclination of the is quite moderate at the head and as the sun had softened the i made safe and rapid progress running and sliding and keeping up a sharp outlook for about half a mile from the head there is an where the over a sharp and is shattered into massive blocks separated by deep blue to thread my way through the slippery of this portion seemed impossible and i endeavored to avoid it by climbing off to the shoulder of the mountain but the slopes rapidly and at length fell away in sheer compelling a return to the ice fortunately the day had been warm enough to the ice so as to admit of hollows being dug in the rotten portions of the blocks thus me to pick my way with far less difficulty than i had anticipated continuing down over the and along the left was only a confident showing that the ascent of the mountain by way of this is easy provided one is armed with an ax to cut steps here and there the lower end of the was beautifully waved and barred by the edges of the ice which represent the annual and to some extent the of structure caused by the of the walls of and by separate which have been the mountains of followed by rain hail and etc small were gliding and over the melting surface with a smooth appearance in channels of pure ice their quick movements most with the rigid invisible flow of the itself on whose back they all were riding night drew near before i reached the eastern base of the mountain and my camp lay many a rugged mile to the north but ultimate success was assured it was now only a matter of endurance and ordinary mountain craft the sunset was if possible yet more beautiful than that of the day before the landscape seemed to be fairly with warm purple light the peaks along the summit were in shadow but through every and pass streamed vivid soothing and their rough black angles while companies of small luminous clouds hovered above them like very angels of light darkness came on but i found my way by the of the and the peaks projected against the sky all excitement died with the light and then i was weary but the joyful sound of the across the lake was heard at last and soon the stars were seen reflected in the lake itself taking my bearings from these i discovered the little pine thicket in which my nest was and then i had a rest such as only a tired may enjoy after lying loose and lost for awhile i made a sunrise fire went down to the lake dashed water on my head and dipped a for tea the revival brought about by bread and tea was as complete as the exhaustion a view of the high from excessive enjoyment and toil then i crept beneath the pine to bed the wind was frosty and the fire burned low but my sleep was none the less sound and the evening had swept far to the west before i awoke after and resting in the morning sunshine i sauntered home that is back to the camp bearing away toward a cluster of peaks that hold the fountain of one of the north of rush creek here i discovered a group of beautiful lakes together in a grand toward evening i crossed the divide separating the waters from those of the and entered the basin that now holds the fountain of the stream that forms the upper this stream i traced down through its many and meadows and reaching the brink of the main at dusk a loud for the artists was answered again and again their camp fire came in sight and half an hour afterward i was with them they seemed glad to see me i had been absent only three days nevertheless though the weaker was fine they had already been weighing chances as to whether i would ever return and trying to decide whether they should wait longer or begin to seek their way back to the now their curious troubles were over they packed their precious sketches and next morning we set out homeward bound and in two days entered the valley from the north by way of indian chapter v the passes the sustained grandeur of the high is strikingly illustrated by the great height of the passes between latitude and the lowest pass gap or of any kind cutting across the of the range as far as i have discovered feet in height above the level of the sea while the average height of all that are in use either by indians or is perhaps not less than feet and not one of these is a carriage pass farther north a carriage road has been constructed through what is known as the pass on the head waters of the and s rivers the summit of which is about feet above the sea substantial wagon roads have also been built through the and johnson passes near the head | 28 |
of lake over which immense quantities of freight were hauled from to the regions of before the construction of the central pacific railroad still farther north a considerable number of comparatively low passes occur some of which are accessible to wheeled and through these rugged during the exciting years of the gold the passes period long trains with foot sore cattle wearily toiled after the toil worn had escaped a thousand dangers and had crawled thousands of miles across the plains the snowy at last loomed in sight the eastern wall of the land of gold and as with shaded eyes they gazed through the tremulous haze of the desert with what joy must they have the pass through which they were to enter the better land of their hopes and dreams between the pass and the southern extremity of the high a distance of nearly miles there are only five passes through which conduct from one side of the range to the other these are barely practicable for animals a pass in these regions meaning simply any or through which one may by the exercise of unlimited patience make out to lead a mule or a sure footed animals that can slide or jump as well as walk only three of the five passes may be said to be in use the and virginia creek the tracks leading through the others being only obscure indian not in the least and scarcely by white men for much of the way is over solid rock and earthquake where the of the indians leave no sign only skilled are able to detect the marks that serve to guide the indians such as slight of the rocks the of stones here and there and bent bushes and weeds a general knowledge of the is then the main guide one to determine where the mountains of the trail ought to go must go one of these indian crosses the range by a nameless pass between the head waters of the south and middle forks of the san the other between the north and middle forks of the same river just to the south of the this last being about feet high is the lowest of the five the is the highest crossing the summit near the head of the south fork of bang s about eight miles to the north of mount through the midst of the most rock scenery the summit of this pass is over feet above nevertheless it is one of the safest of the five and is used every summer from july to october or november by hunters and and to some extent by also for besides the surpassing grandeur of the scenery about the summit the trail in ascending the western flank of the range through a grove of the giant and through the magnificent valley of the south fork of king s this is perhaps the highest pass on the north american continent the pass lies to the east of valley at the head of one of the of the south fork of the this is the best known and most of all that exist in the high a trail was made through it about the time of the gold excitement in the year by adventurous and men who would build a trail down the throat of darkest on the way to gold though more than a thousand feet lower than the the mountains op it is scarcely less sublime in rock scenery while in snowy falling water it far it being so situated for the stream of travel the more adventurous cross over through this glorious to the region around lake it has therefore gained a name and fame above every other pass in the range according to the few observations made upon it its highest point is feet above the sea the other pass of the five we have been considering is somewhat lower and crosses the of the range a few miles to the north of the pass at the head of the of s river it is used chiefly by bands of the indians and but leaving wheels and animals out of the question the free with a sack of bread on his shoulders and an ax to cut steps in ice and frozen snow can make his way across the range almost everywhere and at any time of year when the weather is calm to him nearly every between the peaks is a pass though much patient step cutting is at times required up and down inclined with cautious climbing over that at first sight would seem hopelessly inaccessible in pursuing my studies i have crossed from side to side of the range at intervals of a few miles all along the highest portion of the chain with far less real danger than one would naturally count on and what fine was thus revealed storms and lakes and the passes and meadows and interesting animals only those will ever know who give the and most portion of their lives to climbing and seeing for themselves to the timid fresh from the of the these however picturesque and d seem terribly forbidding cold dead gloomy in the bones of the mountains and of all nature s ways the ones to be most cautiously avoided yet they are full of the finest and most telling examples of nature s love and though hard to travel none are safer for they lead through regions that lie far above the ordinary haunts of the devil and of the that walks in darkness true there are innumerable places where the careless step will be the last step and a rock falling from the cliffs may crush without warning like lightning from the sky but what then accidents in the mountains are less common than in the and these mountain are decent delightful even divine places to die in compared with the chambers of civilization | 28 |
few places in this world are more dangerous than home fear not therefore to try the mountain passes they will kill care save you from deadly set you free and call forth every faculty into vigorous enthusiastic action even the sick should try these so called dangerous passes because for every unfortunate they kill they cure a thousand all the passes make their on the eastern flank on this side the average rise is not far from a thousand feet to the mile while on the mountains of the west it is about two hundred feet another marked difference between the eastern and western portions of the passes is that the former begin at the very foot of the range while the latter can hardly be said to begin lower than an elevation of from seven to ten thousand feet approaching the range from the gray of and s valley on the east the sees before him the steep short passes in full view in by rugged spurs that come plunging down from the shoulders of the peaks on either side the courses of the more direct being disclosed from top to bottom without interruption but from the west one sees nothing of the way he may be seeking until near the summit after days have been spent in the forests growing on the main dividing between the river it is interesting to observe how surely the animals of every kind fall into the same the more rugged and inaccessible the general character of the of any particular region the more surely will the of white men indians bears wild sheep etc be found into the best passes the indians of the western slope venture cautiously over the passes in settled weather to attend dances and obtain loads of pine nuts and the of a small fly that in and s lakes which when dried forms an important article of food while the cross over from the east to hunt the deer and obtain supplies of and it is truly astonishing to see what immense loads the haggard old make out to carry bare the passes footed through these rough passes for a distance of sixty or seventy miles they are always accompanied by the men who stride on and erect a little in advance kindly stooping at difficult places to pile stepping stones for their patient pack animal wives just as they would prepare the way for their bears great sagacity as but although they are and they seldom cross the range i have several times them through the pass but only in late years after cattle and sheep had passed that way when they doubtless were following to feed on the and on those that had been killed by falling over the rocks even the wild sheep the best of all choose regular passes in making journeys across the deer seldom cross the range in either direction i have never yet observed a single specimen of the mule deer of the great basin west of the summit and rarely one of the black species on the eastern slope notwithstanding many of the latter ascend the range nearly to the summit every summer to feed in the wild gardens and bring forth their young the are the pass makers and it is by them that the courses of all are without exception every pass in the was created by them without the slightest aid or guidance from any of the agents i have seen elaborate statements of the amount of and accomplished in the construction of the railroad the mountains of across the above lake but for every pound of rock moved in this way the which descended east and west through this same pass crushed and carried away more than a hundred tons the so called practicable road passes are simply those portions of the range more degraded by action than the adjacent portions and degraded in such a way as to leave the rounded instead of sharp while the peaks from the superior strength and hardness of their rocks or from more favorable position having suffered less degradation are left towering above the passes as if they had been heaved into the sky by some force acting from beneath the scenery of all the passes especially at the head is of the wildest and description lofty peaks together and laden around their with ice and snow chains of lakes streams in endless variety with glorious views westward over a sea of rocks and woods and eastward over strange plains and the dry dead looking of the great basin every pass however possesses treasures of beauty all its own having thus in a general way indicated the height leading features and distribution of the principal passes i will now endeavor to describe the pass in particular which may i think be regarded as a fair example of the higher passes in general the main portion of the pass is formed the passes by bloody which begins at the summit of the range and runs in a general east direction to the edge of the plain the first white men who forced a way through its depths were as we have seen eager gold but the was known and as a pass by the indians and mountain animals long before its discovery by white men as is shown by the numerous which come into it from every direction its name well with the character of the early times n in and may perhaps have been suggested by the color of the in which it is in great part or more probably by blood made by the unfortunate animals which were compelled to slip and awkwardly over its rough cutting rocks i have never known an animal either mule or horse to make its way through the either in going up or down without losing more or less blood from wounds on the legs occasionally one is killed outright | 28 |
warm here the glad creek grown strong with tribute gathered from many a snowy fountain on the mountains of the heights sings richer strains and becomes more human and at every step now you may by its side find the rose and homely and small meadows full of bees and at the head of a low rock luxuriant bushes and arch over from bank to bank the stream with their leafy branches and drooping kept in motion by the current fringe the brow of the in front from this leafy covert the stream leaps out into the light in a curve thick sown with sparkling and falls into a pool filled with brown out of which it gray with foam bells and in a of like that from which it came hence to the foot of the the give place to granite whose nobler calls forth expressions of corresponding beauty from the stream in passing over it bright of notes of falls solemn of smooth gliding sheets all and in glorious harmony when at length its impetuous life is done it slips through a meadow with scarce an audible whisper and falls asleep in lake this water bed is one of the finest i ever saw wave soothingly about it and the breath of flowers over it like incense here our blessed stream rests from its rocky wanderings all its done no more foaming rock leaping no more wild song it falls into a smooth sleep stirred only by the night wind which coming down the makes the passes it and in along its shores leaving the lake it quietly through the rushes destined never more to touch the living rock henceforth its path lies through ancient and reaches of sage plain which nowhere afford rocks suitable for the development of or sheer falls yet this beauty of maturity though less striking is of a still higher order us lovingly on through meadows and groves of rustling to lake where spirit like our happy stream in and free again in the sky bloody like every other in the was recently occupied by a which derived its fountain from the adjacent and descended into lake at a time when its waters stood at a much higher level than now the principal characters in which the history of the ancient is preserved are displayed here in freshness and simplicity furnishing the student with extraordinary advantages for the acquisition of knowledge of this sort the most striking passages are polished and which in many places reflect the rays of the sun like smooth water the dam of red lake is an of slate brought into relief because of its superior strength and because of the greater intensity of the of the rock immediately above it caused by a inclined which entered the main trunk with a heavy down thrust at the head of the lake the mountains op lake an equally interesting example of a basin formed wholly or in part by a dam across the path of a stream between two at lake the proper although apparently continued by the two of the vanished these are about feet high and extend from the sides of the into the plain a distance of about five miles and in beautiful lines their sides are gardens their shady sides are groves the former devoted chiefly to and a square rod containing five or six of several species about the same number of and and a few grass each species being planted apart with bare gravel between as if cultivated my first visit to bloody was made in the summer of under circumstances well calculated to the impressions that are the peculiar offspring of mountains i came from the blooming of and out into the plant gold of the great valley of when its was as yet never before had i beheld of social flowers half so extensive or half so glorious golden covered all the ground from the coast to the like a of sunshine in which i for weeks watching the rising and setting of their innumerable then i gave myself up to be borne forward on the crest of the summer wave that sweeps up the and itself on the snowy the passes at the big meadows i remained more than a month and climbing among the surrounding mountains the with whom i then happened to be was one of those remarkable men one so frequently meets in the hard angles and of whose characters have been brought into relief by the grinding of the gold period until they resemble but at this late day my friend s had subsided and his craving for rest caused him to become a gentle shepherd and literally to lie down with the lamb the of my scotch instincts he threw out some hints concerning bloody and advised me to explore it i have never seen it myself he said for i never was so unfortunate as to pass that way but i have heard many a strange story about it and i warrant you will at least find it wild enough then of course i made haste to see it early next morning i made up a bundle of bread tied my note book to my belt and strode away in the air full of eager indefinite hope the that lay in my path served to soothe my morning haste the sod in many places was with and blue over which i lingered i traced the paths of the ancient over many a shining pavement and marked the in the upper forests that told the power of the winter climbing higher i saw for the first time the gradual of the pines in compliance with climate and on the summit discovered creeping of the willow overgrown with the mountains of and patches of the dwarf with its round flowers sprinkled in the grass like purple hail while in every direction the landscape stretched | 28 |
away in fresh a manuscript written by the hand of nature alone at length as i entered the pass the huge rocks began to close around in all their wild mysterious when suddenly as i was gazing eagerly about me a drove of gray hairy beings came in sight toward me with a kind of motion like bears i never turn back though often so inclined and in this particular instance amid such surroundings everything seemed singularly for the calm acceptance of so grim a company my fears i soon discovered that although as hairy as bears and as crooked as summit pines the strange creatures were sufficiently erect to belong to our own species they proved to be nothing more formidable than indians dressed in the skins of sage both the men and the women begged persistently for and tobacco and seemed so accustomed to that i found it impossible to convince them that i had none to give excepting the names of these two of civilization they seemed to understand not a word of english but i afterward learned that they were on their way to valley to feast awhile on and procure a load of to carry back through the pass to their huts on the shore of lake occasionally a good countenance may be seen among the indians but these the first the passes i had seen were mostly ugly and some of them altogether hideous the dirt on their faces was fairly and seemed so ancient and so undisturbed it might almost possess a significance the older faces were moreover strangely and divided into sections by that looked like the joints of rocks suggesting exposure on the mountains in a condition for ages somehow they seemed to have no right place in the landscape and i was glad to see them fading out of sight down the pass then came evening and the cliffs were inspired with the beauty of the a solemn calm fell upon everything all the lower portion of the was in shadow and i crept into a hollow near one of the upper to smooth the ground in a sheltered nook for a bed when the short twilight faded i kindled a sunny fire made a cup of tea and lay down to rest and look at the stars soon the night wind began to flow and pour in torrents among the jagged peaks mingling strange tones with those of the sounding far below and as i drifted toward sleep i began to experience an uncomfortable feeling of to the then the full moon looked down over the edge of the wall her countenance seemingly filled with intense concern and apparently so near as to produce a startling effect as if she had entered my bedroom forgetting all the world to gaze on me alone the night was full of strange sounds and i gladly welcomed the morning breakfast was soon done and i set forth in the freshness the mountains op of the new day rejoicing in the abundance of pure so close about me the rocks and with centuries of storms stood sharply out in the thin early light while down in the bottom of the and polished heaved and like swelling sea waves telling a grand old story of the ancient that poured its crushing floods above them here for the first time i met the in all their perfection of purity and gentle face to face with the stormy sky kept safe and warm by a thousand miracles i leaped lightly from rock to rock in the eternal freshness and of nature and in the tenderness with which she her mountain in the very fountains of storms fresh beauty appeared at every step delicate rock and groups of the fairest flowers now another lake came to view now a never fell light in brighter never fell water in foam i seemed to float through the enchanted feeling nothing of its and was out in the before i was aware looking back from the shore of lake my morning seemed all a dream there curved bloody a mere feet deep with smooth rocks projecting from the sides and together in the middle like swelling muscles here the lilies were higher than my head and the sunshine was warm enough for palms yet the snow around the was plainly visible only four miles away and be the passes were narrow specimen of all the principal of the globe on the bank of a small brook that comes down the side of the left i f a camp fire still burning which no doubt belonged to the gray indians i had met on the summit and i listened instinctively and moved cautiously forward half expecting to see some of their grim faces peering out of the bushes passing on toward the open plain i noticed three well defined curved gracefully across the stream and joined by long to the two noble these mark the of the vanished when it was retreating into its summit shadows on the breaking up of the winter five miles below the foot of lake just where the lose themselves in the plain there was a field of wild growing in magnificent waving six to eight feet high bearing heads from six to twelve inches long out some of the i found them about five of an inch long dark colored and sweet indian women were gathering it in baskets bending down large beating it out and it in the wind they were quite picturesque coming through the as one caught glimpses of them here and there in winding lanes and with splendid above their heads while their incessant chat and laughter showed their heedless joy like the field i found the so called desert of blooming in a high state of natural the mountains of with the wild rose cherry and the delicate also innumerable and bush i observed their gestures and | 28 |
the various expressions of their inquiring how they could be so fresh and beautiful out in this desert they told as happy a life as any plant company i ever met and seemed to enjoy even the hot sand and the wind but the vegetation of the pass has been in great part destroyed and the same may be said of all the more accessible passes throughout the range immense numbers of starving sheep and cattle have been driven through them into the wild gardens and meadows almost out of existence the lofty walls are untouched by any foot and the falls sing on unchanged but the sight of crushed flowers and stripped bitten bushes goes far toward destroying the charm of the should be seen in winter a good strong who knows the way and the weather might easily make a safe excursion through it from valley on snow shoes during some tranquil time when the storms are hushed the lakes and falls would be buried then but so also would be the traces of destructive feet while the views of the mountains in their winter garb and the ride at lightning speed down the pass between the snowy walls would be truly glorious chapter vi the lakes among the many for treasures that are bound up and hidden away in the depths of none more surely charm and surprise all kinds of than the lakes the forests and the and the snowy fountains of the streams their wealth in a more or less telling manner even in the distance but nothing is seen of the lakes until we have climbed above them all the upper branches of the rivers are fairly laden with lakes like orchard trees with fruit they lie in the deep woods down in the of high on bald and around the feet of the icy peaks back their wild beauty over and over again some conception of their lavish abundance may be made from the fact that from one on the summit of red mountain a day s journey to the east of valley no fewer than forty two are displayed within a of ten miles the whole number in the can hardly be less than fifteen hundred not counting the smaller pools and which are innumerable perhaps two thirds or more lie on the western flank of the range and all are to the and the lakes regions at the close of the last period the middle and foot hill regions also in lakes all of which have long since vanished as completely as the magnificent ancient that brought them into existence though the eastern flank of the range is excessively steep we find lakes pretty regularly distributed throughout even the most portions they are mostly found in the upper branches of the and in the around the peaks occasionally long narrow specimens occur upon the steep sides of dividing their swung like and very rarely one is found lying so exactly on the summit of the range at the head of some pass that its waters are discharged down both when the snow is melting fast but however situated they soon cease to form surprises to the for like all the love work of nature they are related to one another and to all the other features of the mountains it is easy therefore to find the bright lake eyes in the and most looking of any landscape countenance even in the lower regions where they have been closed for many a century their rocky are still filled in with the of flood and a beautiful system of in correspondence with the fountains is soon perceived also their extension in the direction of the of the ancient and in general their dependence as to form size and position upon the character of the rocks in which the mountains op their have been and the quantity and direction of application of the force expended upon each basin in the upper we usually find them in pretty regular succession strung together like beads on the bright ribbons of their which pour white and gray with foam and spray from one to the other their perfect mirror stillness making impressive with the grand and glare of the connecting in lake hollow on the north side of the spur immediately above the great there are ten lovely lying near together in one general hollow like eggs in a nest seen from above in a general view with and fringed with they seem to me the most singularly beautiful lake cluster i have ever yet discovered lake miles long by about wide and from to oyer feet in depth is the largest of all the lakes it lies just beyond the northern limit of the higher portion of the range between the main and a spur that puts out on the east side from near the head of the river its shores go in and out around many an bay and pine crowned and its waters are everywhere as keenly pure as any to be found among the highest mountains lake rendered memorable by the terrible fate of the party is about three miles long and lies about ten miles to the north of at the head of one of the of the a few miles farther north lies lake independence the lakes about the same size as but far the greater number of the lakes lie much higher and are quite small few of them exceeding a mile in length most of them less than half a mile along the lower edge of the lake belt the smallest have disappeared by the filling in of their leaving only those of considerable size but all along the upper margin of the lake bearing every hollow however small lying within reach of any portion of the close of streams contains a bright pool so that the landscape viewed from the seems to be sown with them | 28 |
many of the larger lakes are encircled with smaller ones like central gems with sparkling in general however there is no marked dividing line as to size in order therefore to prevent confusion i would state here that in giving numbers i include none less than yards in in the basin of the i counted of which are upon the that fall so into valley creek which forms the fall of that name takes its rise in a beautiful lake lying beneath the shadow of a lofty granite spur that puts out from vista peak this is now the only lake left in the whole basin the has sixteen the no fewer than sixty seven the eight creek five and creek fourteen there are but two other lake bearing of the the south fork with fifteen and creek with five both of which unite with the main trunk below the mountains of the river as a whole is remarkably like an elm tree and it requires but little effort on the part of the imagination to picture it standing upright with all its lakes hanging upon its spreading branches the eighty miles in height now add all the other lake bearing rivers of the each in its place and you will have a truly glorious spectacle an avenue the length and width of the one op the range the long slender gray shafts of the main trunks the way of branches and the silvery lakes all clearly defined and shining on the sky how excitedly such an addition to the scenery would be gazed at yet these the lakes ers are still more beautiful and impressive in their natural positions to those who have the eyes to see them as they lie in their meadows and forests and rocks when a mountain lake is born when like a young eye it first opens to the light it is an irregular in banks of rock and ice bare rock on the lower side the rugged of a on the upper in this condition it remains for many a year until at length toward the end of some cluster of seasons the beyond the upper margin of the basin leaving it open from shore to shore for the first time thousands of years after its conception beneath the that its basin the landscape cold and bare is reflected in its pure depths the winds its surface and the sun fills it with throbbing while its waves begin to lap and murmur around its shores sun during the day and reflected stars at night its only flowers the winds and the snow its only visitors meanwhile the continues to and numerous still younger than the lake itself bring down sand and pebbles giving rise to and of soil to these fresh soil beds come many a waiting plant first a hardy with leaves and a of brown flowers then as the seasons grow warmer and the soil beds deeper and wider other take their appointed places and these are joined by blue and many a lowly moss shrubs also hasten in time to the new the mountains op gardens with its glossy leaves and purple flowers the willow making soft woven carpets together with the and the fairest and dearest of them all insects now the air pipe cheerily in the soon followed by the which is the first bird to visit a lake as the is the first of plants so the young lake grows in beauty becoming more and more from century to century groves of spring up and hardy pines and the until it is richly and but while its shores are being enriched the soil beds creep out with incessant growth its area while the lighter mud deposited on the bottom cause it to grow constantly until at length the last remnant of the lake closed forever in ripe and natural old age and now its feeding stream goes winding on without halting through the new gardens and groves that have taken its place the length of the life of any lake depends ordinarily upon the capacity of its basin as compared with the carrying power of the streams that flow into it the character of the rocks over which these streams flow and the relative position of the lake toward other lakes in a series whose lie in the same and are fed by one and the same main stream the uppermost will of course vanish first unless some other lake filling agent comes in to the result because at first it receives nearly all of the that the stream brings the lakes down only the finest of the mud being carried through the highest of the series to the next below then the next higher and the next would be filled and the lowest would be the last to vanish but this simplicity as to duration is broken in upon in various ways chiefly through the action of side streams that enter the lower lakes direct for notwithstanding many of these side are quite short and during late summer feeble they all become powerful torrents in when the snow is melting and carry not only sand and pine needles but large trunks and tons in weight sweeping them down their inclined channels and into the lake with energy many of these side also have the advantage of access to the main of the vanished that occupied the and upon these they draw for lake filling material while the main trunk stream flows mostly over clean where but little matter is ever left for them to carry thus a small rapid stream with abundance of loose material within its reach may fill up an extensive basin in a few centuries while a large trunk stream flowing over clean enduring though ordinarily a hundred times larger may not fill a smaller basin in thousands of years the comparative influence of great and | 28 |
thrusting itself into and out of the basin bearing down with superior pressure upon this portion of its channel because of the greater consequently it deeper than the other portions about it and producing the lake bowl as the necessary result with these magnificent ice characters so vividly before us it is not easy to realize that the old that made them vanished of centuries ago for excepting the vegetation that has sprung up and the changes effected by an earthquake that hurled rock from the weaker the basin as a whole presents the same appearance that it did when first brought to light the lake itself however has undergone marked changes one sees at a glance that it is growing old more the lakes than two thirds of its original area is now dry land covered with meadow and groves of pine and fir and the level bed of stretching across from wall to wall at the head is evidently growing out all along its margin and will at length close the lake forever every lover of fine would delight to on a summer day through the groves now occupying the filled up portion of the basin the shore is clearly traced by a ribbon of white sand upon which the play then comes a belt of broad interrupted here and there by impenetrable of beyond this there are groves of trembling then a dark shadowy belt of two pine with here and there a round meadow nest like in its midst and lastly a narrow outer margin of majestic silver fir feet high the ground beneath the trees is covered with a luxuriant crop of chiefly and with purple and to one s shoulders while the open meadow patches glow throughout the summer with flowers and lilies and form favorite hiding and feeding grounds for bears and deer the rugged south wall is darkly along the top with an imposing array of silver while the all the way down to the water s edge are adorned with picturesque old their colored bark showing finely upon the gray of the granite these with a few dwarf pines and lean the mountains op out over ribs and or stand erect back in shadowy in an wild and fearless manner moreover the white and dwarf oak form graceful along the wherever the slightest hold can be effected rock too are here such as and making handsome on the and the delicate and hide back in by some and then the orange wall flower holds up its here and there in the sunshine and makes of gold but notwithstanding all this plant beauty the general impression in looking across the lake is of stern the and flowers are scarcely seen and not one of the whole surface is with plant life the north wall is more varied in but the general tone is the same a few flat and soil covered support of and pine and up of and live oak growing on rough earthquake their small streams come down between them their foaming brightened with gay and and close along the shore on this side there is a strip of rocky meadow with and white and the out on its border dip their leaves into the water the lower edge of the basin is a dam like swell of solid granite heavily by the old the lakes but scarce at all into as yet by the stream though it has flowed on since the lake came into existence as soon as the stream is fairly over the lake lip it breaks into never for a moment halting and scarce one of its glad energy until it reaches the next filled up basin a mile below then and through meadow and grove it breaks forth anew into gray and falls leaping and gliding in glorious of wild bound and dance down into another and yet another filled up lake basin then after a long rest in the of little it makes its display in the famous fall out of the clouds of spray at the foot of the fall the battered roaring river its way makes another mile of and rests a moment in pool then over the grand cliff of the fall and goes thundering and down a choked of tremendous depth and into the tranquil reaches of the old lake basin the color beauty about shadow lake during the indian summer is much richer than one could hope to find in so young and so a wilderness almost every leaf is tinted then and the are in bloom but most of the color is given by the ripe and at the foot of the lake you stand in a trembling grove every leaf painted like a butterfly and away to right and left round the shores sweeps a ribbon of meadow red and brown dotted with pale yellow off here and there into the mountains of purple the walls too are dashed with bits of bright color that gleam out on the granite gray but neither the walls nor the margin meadow nor yet the gay fluttering grove in which you stand nor the lake itself flashing with can long hold your attention for at the head of the lake there is a gorgeous mass of orange yellow belonging to the main belt of the basin which seems the very fountain whence all the color below it had flowed and here your eye is filled and fixed this glorious mass is about thirty feet high and extends across the basin nearly from wall to wall of willow flame in front of it and from the base of these the brown meadow comes forward to the water s edge the whole being relieved against the green of the while thick sun gold is poured over all during these blessed color days no cloud the sky the winds are gentle and the landscape rests hushed everywhere and impressive a few ducks | 28 |
are usually seen sailing on the lake apparently more for pleasure than anything else and the at the head of the sing always while and the are busy in the groves making delightful company and the feeling of grateful without the deep hushed calm and peace this usually lasts until the end of november then come days of quite another kind the winter clouds grow and bloom and shed their on every leaf and rock and all the colors vanish like a sunset the deer gather the lakes and hasten down their well known fearful of being snow bound storm storm snow on the cliffs and meadows and bending the slender pines to the ground in wide arches one over the other and like lodged wheat rush and boom from the heights immense heaps upon the frozen lake and all the summer glory is buried and lost yet in the midst of this hearty winter the sun shines warm at times calling the to in the snowy pines and seek out his hidden stores and the weather is never so severe as to drive away the and little nut and toward may the lake begins to open the hot sun sends down innumerable streams over the cliffs them round and round with foam the snow slowly and the meadows show of green then spring comes on flowers and flies the air and the sod and the deer come back to the upper groves like birds to an old nest i first discovered this charming lake in the autumn of while on my way to the at the head of the river it was rejoicing then in its colors hidden in the glorious like gold tear after year i walked its shores without discovering any other trace of humanity than the remains of an indian camp fire and the bones of a deer that had been broken to get at the it lies out of the regular ways of indians who love to hunt in more accessible fields adjacent to their knowledge of deer haunts had probably them here some the mountains op hunger time when they wished to make sure of a feast for hunting in this lake hollow is like hunting in a park i had told the beauty of shadow lake only to a few friends fearing it might come to be trampled and improved like on my last visit as i was along the shore on the strip of sand between the water and sod reading the tracks of the wild animals that live here i was startled by a human track which i at once saw belonged to some shepherd for each step was turned out or from the general course pursued and was also run over in an uncertain fashion at the heel while a row of round on the right indicated the staff that carry none but a shepherd could make such a track and after tracing it a few minutes i began to fear that he might be seeking for what else could he be seeking f returning from the shortly afterward my worst fears were realized a trail had been made down the mountain side from the north and all the gardens and meadows were destroyed by a of as if swept by a fire the money were in the temple lake besides these larger lakes fed by the main streams there are many smaller ones lying aloft on the top of rock benches entirely independent of the general channels and of course drawing their supplies from a very limited the lakes area notwithstanding they are mostly small and shallow owing to their from and the of powerful streams they often endure longer than others many times larger but less situated when very shallow they become dry toward the end of summer but because their are ground out of stone they suffer no loss save from alone and the great depth of snow that falls lasting into june makes their dry season short in any case orange lake is a fair illustration of this bench form it lies in the middle of a beautiful p near the lower margin of the lake line about a mile and a half to the of shadow lake it is only about yards in next the water there is a of with wide leaves then in regular order a shaggy of bushes a of with here and there a bush of the mountain ash then a of with a few pines around the outside these are of course and together form a wall beyond which the naked granite stretches away in every direction leaving it relieved like a bunch of palms in a desert in autumn when the colors are ripe the whole circular grove at a little distance like a big handful of flowers set in a cup to be kept a of its feeding streams are exceedingly beautiful notwithstanding their and extreme they have no channel whatever and consequently are left free to spread in thin sheets upon the shining granite the mountains op and wander at will in many places the current is less than a fourth of an inch deep and flows with so little it is scarcely visible sometimes there is not a single foam bell or drifting or of any sort to manifest its motion yet when observed narrowly it is seen to form a web of gliding exquisitely woven giving beautiful reflections from its minute and and from the of large in being everywhere transparent in spring when the snow is melting the lake bowl is full and sends forth quite a large stream that slips for yards or so until it comes to an almost precipice feet high down which it in a fine then it its scattered waters and goes smoothly over folds of gently dipping granite to its with the main stream during the greater portion of the year however not a single water | 28 |
of a mile wide the trees come pressing forward all around in close ranks the mountains of planting their feet exactly on its margin and holding themselves erect strict and orderly like soldiers on parade thus bounding the meadow with exquisite precision yet with free lines such as nature alone can draw with delight you out into the grassy sun lake feeling yourself contained in one of nature s most sacred chambers withdrawn from the influences of the mountains secure from all intrusion secure from yourself free in the universal beauty and notwithstanding the scene is so spiritual and you seem dissolved in it yet everything about you is beating with warm human love and life delightfully substantial and familiar the pines are types of health and the feeding on the sod belong to the same species you have known since childhood and surely these and are the very friend flowers of the old home garden bees hum as in a harvest noon above the flowers and like them you lave in the vital sunshine too richly and joy filled to be capable of partial thought you are all eye through and through with light and beauty along the brook that silently through the meadow from the east special flowers call you back to consciousness the sod comes down to the water s edge forming banks and in some places and forming bridges here you find of the curious dwarf willow scarce an inch high yet sending up a multitude of gray the meadows here and there with the purple cups and bells of and go where you may you everywhere find the lawn beautiful as if nature had and adjusted every plant this very day the floating grass are scarcely felt in brushing through their midst so fine are they and none of the flowers have tall or rigid in the brightest places you find three species of with different shades of blue pure as the sky with warm yellow flowers several species of with blunt red and purple and yellow the and fragrant and with their colors and blended parting the and looking more closely you may trace the of their shining stems and note the beauty of their mist of flowers the and exquisitely the yellow dangling and beneath the lowest leaves you discover a fairy realm of and many others their precious cups poised on polished shafts curiously or open showing the richly worn like royal crowns creeping are here also in abundance and several rare species of exceedingly small and frail and delicate as if made only for beauty black and the of this lower world making their way through miniature groves and like bears in a thick wood and how rich too is the life of the sunny air every leaf and flower seems to have its winged the mountains of representative overhead flies shoot in vigorous through the dancing and a rich profusion of the of insects make a fine addition to the general show many of these last are comparatively small at this elevation and as yet almost unknown to science but every now and then a familiar or comes sailing past humming birds too are quite common here and the robin is always found along the margin of the stream or out in the portions of the sod and sometimes the and mountain with their of precious chickens the grassy lake from end to end fly come and go in fitful flights from the tops of dead while swing across from side to side in graceful curves birds insects and flowers all in their own way telling a deep summer joy the influences of pure nature seem to be so little known as yet that it is generally supposed that complete pleasure of this kind one s very flesh and bones the student for scientific pursuits in which cool judgment and observation are required but the effect is just the opposite instead of producing a dissipated condition the mind is and stimulated and developed like sun fed plants all that we have seen here us to see with vision the fountains among the summit peaks to the east whence flowed the that ground soil for the surrounding forest and down at the foot of the meadow the which formed the dam which gave rise to the lake that occupied this basin before the meadow was made the meadows and around the margin the stones that were back and piled up into a rude wall by the of the lake ice during long and along the sides of the streams the slight hollows of the meadow which mark those portions of the old lake that were the last to vanish i would fain ask my readers to linger awhile in this fertile wilderness to trace its history from its earliest and learn what we may of its wild inhabitants and visitors how happy the birds are all summer and some of them all winter how the drive under the snow and how fine and brave a life the lives here and the deer and bears but knowing well the difference between reading and seeing i will only ask attention to some brief sketches of its varying aspects as they are presented throughout the more marked seasons of the year the summer life we have been lasts with but little until october when the night begin to sting the and the leaves of the creeping along the banks of the stream to purple and crimson while the flowers disappear all save the and a few that continue to bloom on until the beginning of snowy winter in still nights the grass and every leaf and stalk are laden with frost through which the morning in each to a precious diamond the colors of the rainbow the brook are across and across with slender of ice the mountains op but both these and the grass are melted before midday and | 28 |
notwithstanding the great elevation of the meadow the are still warm enough to revive the chilled and call them out to enjoy the late the divine the surrounding forest every evening followed by a crystal night with hosts of lily stars whose size and brilliancy cannot be conceived by those who have never risen above the thus come and go the bright sun days of autumn not a cloud in the sky week after week until near december then comes a sudden change clouds of a peculiar aspect with a slow crawling gait gather and grow in the throwing out and becoming gradually darker until every lake like and opening is closed and the whole bent is obscured in equal gloom then comes the snow for the clouds are ripe the meadows of the sky are in bloom and shed their radiant blossoms like an orchard in the spring lightly lightly they lodge in the brown and in the needles of the pines falling hour after hour day after day silently lovingly all the winds hushed glancing and hither thither against one another rays in as large as and then the dry and the trees and the stones are all equally again thunder showers occur here during the summer months and impressive it is to watch the coming of the big transparent drops each a small world in itself one unbroken ocean without islands free through the air like the meadows through space but still more impressive to me is the coming of the snow flowers falling stars winter giving bloom to all the ground alike blossom brilliantly in the rainbow and change to flowers in the sod but snow comes in full flower direct from the dark frozen sky the later snow storms are accompanied by winds that break up the when the temperature is low into single and irregular dusty fragments but there is comparatively little drifting on the meadow so securely is it in the woods from december to may storm storm until the snow is about fifteen or twenty feet deep but the surface is always as smooth as the breast of a bird hushed now is the life that so late was beating warmly most of the birds have gone down below the snow line the plants sleep and all the fly wings are folded yet the sun beams many a day in casting long lance shadows the dazzling expanse in june small of the dead sod begin to appear gradually and with one another covered with creeping rags of water during the day and ice by night looking as hopeless and as crushed rocks just emerging from the darkness of the period walk the meadow now scarce the memory of a flower will you find the ground seems twice dead nevertheless the annual is drawing near the life giving sun his floods the last snow wreath of growing points push eagerly through the steaming tiie birds come back new wings fill the air the mountains of and summer life comes on seemingly yet more glorious than before this is a perfect meadow and under favorable circumstances exists without any marked changes for centuries nevertheless soon or late it must inevitably grow old and vanish during the calm indian summer scarce a sand grain moves around its banks but in flood times and storm times soil is washed forward upon it and laid in successive sheets around its gently sloping rim and is gradually extended to the making it through a considerable period the meadow vegetation is not greatly affected thereby for it gradually rises with the rising ground keeping on the surface like water plants rising on the swell of waves but at length the elevation of the goes on so far as to produce too dry a soil for the specific meadow plants when of course they have to give up their places to others fitted for the new conditions the most characteristic of the at this elevation above the sea are principally sun loving and and finally forest trees the changes are so manifold that the original can be and seen only by the generally speaking lakes vanish more slowly than the meadows that succeed them because unless very shallow a greater quantity of material is required to fill up their and them than is required to render the surface of the meadow too high and dry for meadow vegetation the meadows owing to the to which the adjacent rocks are subjected material of the finer sort susceptible of by rains and ordinary floods is more abundant during the meadow period than during the lake period yet doubtless many a fine meadow situated exists in almost prime thousands of years the process of being exceedingly slow as we reckon time this is especially the case with meadows like the one we have described in deep woods with the ground rising gently away from it all around the of tree roots in which all the ground is clasped preventing any rapid washing but in exceptional cases beautiful formed with great deliberation are overwhelmed and at once by the action of land slips earthquake or extraordinary floods just as lakes are in those meadows that take the places of shallow lakes which have been fed by feeble streams mud and fine vegetable enter largely into the composition of the soil and on account of the of this soil and the condition of the rock they are usually wet and therefore occupied by tall and whose coarse appearance offers a striking contrast to that of the delicate lawn making kind described above these shallow soiled meadows are still further and by partially buried and swelling of the bed rock which with the trees and shrubs growing upon them produce a striking effect the mountains of as they stand in relief like in the grassy level or sweep across in rugged curves from one forest wall to the other throughout | 28 |
the upper meadow region wherever water is sufficiently abundant and low iii temperature in secure from flood washing handsome are formed with a deep growth of brown and yellow ruffled with patches of and which masses of beautiful color in the autumn between these cool and the dry meadows there are many interesting varieties which are into one another by the varied conditions already alluded to forming a series of delightful studies hanging meadows another very well marked and interesting kind of meadow greatly both in origin and appearance from the lake meadows is found lying upon covered in the direction of greatest waving up and down over rock heaps and like rich green ribbons brilliantly with tall flowers they occur both in the and regions in considerable numbers and never fail to make telling features in the landscape they are often a mile or more in length but never very wide usually from thirty to fifty yards when the mountain or side on which they lie at the required angle and other conditions are at the same time favorable they extend from above the the meadows timber line to the bottom of a or lake basin descending in fine lines like breaking here and there into a kind of spray on large or dividing and flowing around on either side of some projecting sometimes a goes down through them and again scarcely a drop of water is in sight they owe their existence however to streams whether visible or invisible the wildest specimens being found where some fountain as a or or spring sends down its waters across a rough sheet of soil in a dissipated web of feeble these conditions give rise to a vegetation whose extending roots still more the free flow of the waters and tend to them out over a yet wider area thus the soil and the necessary moisture requisite for the better class of meadow plants are at times combined about as perfectly as if smoothly on a level surface where the soil happens to be composed of the finer qualities of and the water is not in excess the nearest approach is made by the vegetation to that of the lake meadow but where as is more commonly the case the soil is coarse and the vegetation is rank tall wide take their places along the sides and rushes and nodding in the portions mingled with the most beautiful and imposing flowers orange lilies and seven or eight feet high painted cups many species of and the ample boat and the magnificent the mountains op with spurs an inch and a half long at an elevation of from seven to nine thousand feet frequently form the bulk of the vegetation then the hanging meadows become hanging gardens in rare instances we find an basin the bottom of which is a perfect meadow and the sides nearly all the way round rising in gentle curves are covered with soil which being with melting snow from fountains gives rise to an almost continuous of down meadow vegetation that gracefully into the level meadow at the bottom thus forming a grand smooth soft meadow lined mountain nest it is in meadows of this sort that the mountain loves to make his home snug chambers beneath the sod digging turning the waters from channel to channel to suit his convenience and feeding the vegetation another kind of meadow or occurs on where small streams have been at short intervals by fallen trees still another kind is found hanging down smooth flat while corresponding leaning meadows rise to meet them there are also three kinds of small pot hole meadows one of which is found along the banks of the main streams another on the of rocky and the third on all of them interesting in origin and of plant beauty chapter the forests the forests of the are the and most beautiful in the world and grow in a delightful climate on the most interesting and accessible of mountain yet strange to say they are not well known more than sixty years ago david an enthusiastic and tree lover wandered alone through fine sections of the sugar pine and silver fir woods wild with delight a few years later other made short journeys from the coast into the lower woods then came the wonderful multitude of into the foot hill mostly blind with gold dust soon followed by who with wool over their eyes chased their flocks through all the forest from one end of the range to the other then the valley was discovered and thousands of admiring passed through sections of the lower and middle on their way to that wonderful park and gained fine glimpses of the sugar pines and silver along the edges of dusty and roads but few indeed strong and free with eyes with care have gone far enough and lived long enough with the trees to gain anything like a loving conception of their grandeur and the mountains of significance as manifested in the of their distribution and varying aspects throughout the seasons as they stand arrayed in their winter garb rejoicing in putting forth their fresh in the spring while steaming with fragrance receiving the thunder showers of summer or heavy laden with ripe in the rich of autumn for knowledge of this kind one must dwell with the trees and grow with them without any reference to time in the sense the distribution of the general forest in is readily perceived these as we have seen extend in regular order from one extremity of the range to the other and however dense and they may appear in general views neither on the rocky heights nor down in the hollows will find anything to remind you of the of the and with their boundless of shade the monotonous of the forests of the the black forest of europe or the dense dark woods of where rolls | 28 |
the the giant pines and and hold their arms open to the sunlight rising above one another on the mountain benches in glorious array giving forth the utmost expression of grandeur and beauty with inexhaustible variety and harmony the inviting of the woods is one of their most characteristics the trees of all the species stand more or less apart in groves or in small irregular groups one to find a way nearly everywhere along sunny and through that have a smooth the mountains of park like surface strewn with brown needles and now you cross a wild garden now a meadow now a stream and ever and anon you from all the groves and flowers upon some granite pavement or high bare ridge commanding superb views above the waving sea of far and near one would experience but little difficulty in riding on horseback through the successive all the way up to the storm beaten of the icy peaks the deep however that extend from the of the range cut the more or less completely into sections and prevent the mounted from tracing them this simple arrangement in and sections brings the f t as a whole within the comprehension of every observer the different species are ever found occupying the same relative positions to one another as controlled by soil climate and the comparative vigor of each species in taking and holding the ground and so are these relations one need never be at a loss in within a few hundred feet the elevation above sea level by the trees alone for notwithstanding some of the species range upward for several thousand feet and all pass one another more or less yet even those possessing the greatest range are available in this connection in as much as they take on new forms corresponding with the variations in crossing the plains of the and san from the west and reaching the foot hills you enter the lower fringe of the the forests forest composed of small oaks and pines growing so far apart that not one twentieth of the surface of the ground is in shade at clear after advancing fifteen or twenty miles and making an ascent of from two to three thousand feet yon reach edge of the the lower margin of the main pine belt composed of the gigantic sugar pine yellow pine incense and next you come to the magnificent silver fir belt and lastly to the upper pine belt which sweeps up the rocky of the summit peaks in a wavering fringe to a height of from ten to twelve thousand feet the mountains of this general order of distribution with reference to climate dependent on elevation is perceived at once but there are other as far reaching in this connection that become manifest only after patient observation and study perhaps the most interesting of these is the arrangement of the forests in long bands together into patterns and in charming variety the key to this beautiful harmony is the ancient where they flowed the trees followed tracing their wavering courses along over and over high rolling the of says are growing upon one of the of an ancient all the forests of the are growing upon but vanish like the that make them every storm that falls upon them them cutting and carrying away their material into new until at length they are no longer by any save students who trace their forms down from the fresh still in process of formation through those that are more and more ancient and more and more obscured by vegetation and all kinds of post had the ice sheet that once covered all the range been melted from the foot hills to the the would of course have been left almost bare of soil and these noble forests would be wanting many groves and would undoubtedly have grown up on lake and beds and many a fair flower and would have found food and a dwelling place in the and but the as a whole would have been a bare rocky desert it appears therefore that the forests in general indicate the extent and positions of the ancient as well as they do lines of climate for forests properly speaking cannot exist without soil and since the have been deposited upon the solid rock and only upon elected places the mountains of leaving a considerable portion of the old surface bare we find luxuriant forests of pine and fir abruptly terminated by and polished on which not even a moss is growing though soil alone is required to fit them for the growth of trees feet in height the nut pine the nut pine the first met in ascending the range from the west grows only on the seeming to delight in the most ardent like a palm springing up here and there singly or in scattered groups of five or six among white oaks and of and its extreme upper limit being about feet above the sea its lower about from to feet this tree is remarkable for its airy tropical appearance which suggests a region of palms rather than cool pine woods no one would take it at first sight to be a of any kind it is so loose in habit and so widely and its foliage is so thin and gray full grown specimens are from forty to fifty feet in height and from two to three feet in the trunk usually into three or four main branches about fifteen and twenty feet from the ground which after bearing away from one another shoot straight up and form separate while the crooked subordinate branches and and in ornamental the slender the forests green needles are from eight to twelve inches long loosely and inclined to in handsome curves with the stiff dark hut pine p colored tr and branches in a very striking manner no other tree of my acquaintance so substantial | 28 |
in body is in its foliage so thin and so to the light the through the mountains of even the trees with scarcely any interruption and the weary heated finds but little protection in their shade the generous crop of nuts which the nut pine makes it a favorite with indians bears and the are most beautiful measuring from five to eight inches in length and not much less in thickness rich brown in color and protected by strong down hooks which the scales nevertheless the little can open them indians gathering the ripe nuts make a striking picture the men climb the trees like bears and beat off the with sticks or cut off the more fruitful branches with while the gather the big generous and roast them until the scales open sufficiently to allow the hard seeds to be beaten out then in the cool evenings men women and children with their capacity for dirt greatly increased by the soft with which they are all form circles around camp fires on the bank of the nearest stream and lie in easy independence nuts and laughing and chattering as heedless of the future as the this curious little pine is found at an elevation of from to feet growing in close groves it is exceedingly slender and graceful in habit although trees that chance to stand alone outside the groves sweep forth long curved branches the forests the grove form the isolated form producing a striking contrast to the ordinary grove form the foliage is of the same peculiar color as that of the nut pine and is worn about as loosely so that the body of the tree is scarcely obscured by it the mountains op at the age of seven or eight years it begins to bear not on branches but on the main and as they never fall off the trunk is soon dotted with them the branches also become fruitful after they attain sufficient size the average size of the older trees is about thirty or forty feet in height and twelve to fourteen inches in the are about four inches long exceedingly hard and covered with a sort of and rendering them to moisture evidently with a view to the careful preservation of the seeds no other in the range is so closely to special it is usually found apart standing deep in on sunny hill and sides where there is but little depth of soil and where found at all it is quite plentiful but the ordinary following carriage roads and may ascend the range many times without meeting it while exploring the lower portion of the i found a lonely seeking his fortune in a vein on a wild mountain side planted with this singular tree he told me that he called it the pine because of the whiteness and of the wood it is so little known however that it can hardly be said to have a common name most refer to it as that queer little pine tree covered all over with in my studies of this species i found a very interesting and significant group of facts whose relations will be seen almost as soon as stated st all the trees in the groves i examined however unequal in size are of the same age the forests d those groves are all planted on dry covered with and therefore are liable to be swept by fire d there are no or in or about the living groves bnt there is always a fine hopeful crop springing up on the ground once occupied by any grove that has been destroyed by the burning of the th the never fall off and never discharge their seeds until the tree or branch to which they belong dies a full discussion of the bearing of these facts upon one another would perhaps be out of place here but i may at least call attention to the admirable of the tree to the fire swept re the mountains of where alone it is found after a grove has been destroyed the ground is at once sown with all the seeds during its whole life which seem to have been carefully held in store with reference to such a calamity then a young grove immediately springs up giving beauty for ashes pine this is the noblest pine yet discovered surpassing all others not merely in size but also in beauty and majesty it towers from every ridge and of the range at an elevation of from three to seven thousand feet above the sea most perfect development at a height of about feet full grown specimens are commonly about feet high and from six to eight feet in near the ground though some grand old is occasionally met that has enjoyed five or six centuries of storms and attained a thickness of ten or even twelve feet living on sweet and fresh in every in southern where it was first discovered by david on the head waters of the it still dimensions one specimen having been measured that was feet high and over eighteen feet in three feet from the ground the was the for whom the noble is named and many other plants which will keep his memory the forests sweet and fresh as long as trees and flowers are loved his first visit to the pacific coast was made in the year the indians watched him with curiosity as he wandered in the woods collecting specimens and unlike the fur gathering strangers they had hitherto known caring nothing about trade and when at length they came to know him better and saw that from year to year the growing things of the woods and were his only objects of pursuit they called him the man of grass a title of which he was proud during his first summer on the waters of the he made fort his making excursions from this bay post | 28 |
in every direction on one of his long he saw in an indian s some of the seeds of a new species of pine which he learned were obtained from a very large tree far to the southward of the at the end of the next summer returning to fort after the setting in of the winter rains bearing in mind the big pine he had heard of he set out on an excursion up the valley in search of it and how he and what dangers and hardships he endured are best told in his own journal from which i quote as follows october weather dull cold and cloudy when my friends in england are made acquainted with my travels i fear they will think i have told them nothing but my miseries i quitted my camp early in the morning to survey the neighboring country leaving my guide to take charge of the horses until my return in the evening about an hour s walk from the camp i met an indian who on perceiving me instantly strung his bow the mountains of placed on his left arm a sleeve of skin and stood on the being quite sure that conduct was prompted by fear and not by hostile intentions the poor fellow having probably never seen such a being as myself before i laid my gun at my feet on the ground and waved my hand for him to come to me which he did slowly and with great caution i then made him place his bow and quiver of arrows beside my gun and striking a light gave him a smoke out of my own pipe and a present of a few beads with my pencil i made a rough sketch of the and pine tree which i wanted to obtain and drew his attention to it when he instantly pointed with his hand to the hills fifteen or twenty miles distant towards the south and when i expressed my intention of going thither cheerfully set out to accompany me at midday i reached my long wished f or pines and lost no time in examining them and to collect specimens and seeds new and strange things seldom fail to make strong impressions and are therefore frequently over so that lest i should never see my friends in england to inform them of this most beautiful and immensely grand tree i shall here state the dimensions of the largest i could find among several that had been blown down by the wind at feet from the ground its is feet inches j at feet feet inches the extreme length feet as it was impossible either to climb the tree or it down i endeavored to knock off the by firing at them with ball when the report of my gun brought eight indians all of them painted with red earth armed with bows arrows bone tipped and they appeared anything but friendly i explained to them what i wanted and they seemed satisfied and sat down to smoke j but presently i saw one of them string his bow and another his flint knife with a pair of wooden and it on the wrist of his right hand further testimony of their intentions was the to save myself by flight was impossible so without hesitation i stepped back about ave paces cocked my gun drew one of the pistols out of my belt and holding it in my left hand and the gun in my right showed myself determined to fight for my life as much as possible i endeavored to preserve my coolness and thus we stood looking at one another without making any movement or uttering a word for perhaps ten minutes when one at last who seemed to be the leader gave a sign that they wished for some tobacco this i signified that they should have if they fetched a quantity of they went off immediately in search of them and no sooner were they all out of sight than i picked up my three and some twigs of the trees and made the possible retreat hurrying back to the camp which i reached before dusk i now write lying on the grass with my gun cocked beside me and these lines by the light of my candle namely an piece of wood this grand pine discovered under such exciting circumstances named in honor of his friend dr of london the trunk is a smooth round delicately shaft mostly without limbs and colored rich brown usually with of yellow at the top of this magnificent long branches sweep gracefully outward and downward sometimes forming a palm like crown but far more nobly impressive than any palm crown i ever beheld the needles are about three inches long finely tempered and arranged in rather close at the ends of slender that clothe the long limbs how well they sing in the wind and how strikingly harmonious an effect the mountains of is made by the immense that depend loosely from the ends of the main branches no one knows what nature can do in the way of pine until he has seen those of the sugar pine they are commonly from fifteen to eighteen inches long and three in green shaded with dark purple on their sides they are ripe in september and october then the flat scales open and the seeds take wing but the empty become still more beautiful and effective for their is nearly doubled by the spreading of the scales and their color changes to a warm brown while they remain swinging on the tree all the following winter and summer and continue beautiful even on the ground many years after they fall the wood is fragrant and fine in grain and texture it is of a rich cream yellow as if formed of r the glory of eastern forests is called fu si no ki tree of the | 28 |
sun by the the sugar pine is the sun tree of the unfortunately it is greatly by the and in accessible places is always the first tree in the woods to feel their steel but the regular with their saw mills have been less generally destructive thus far than the the wood freely and there is a constant demand for the and because an ax and saw and are all the capital required for the business many of that drifting unsteady class of men so large in engage in it for a few months in the year when hunters hands etc touch their bottom dollar and find themselves out of employment they say well i can at least go to the sugar pines and make a few posts are set in the ground and a single length cut from produces boards enough for the walls and roof of a cabin all the rest the makes is for sale and he is speedily independent no gardener or is more sweetly than these rough while engaged in this business but the they make is most deplorable the sugar from which the common name is derived is to my taste the best of sweets better than sugar it from the where wounds have been made either by forest fires or the the mountains op ax in the shape of irregular crisp like which are crowded together in masses of considerable size like clusters of beads when fresh it is perfectly white and delicious but because most of the wounds on which it is found have been made by fire the sap is stained on the surface and the hardened sugar becomes brown indians are fond of it but on account of its properties only small quantities may be eaten bears so fond of sweet things in general seem never to taste it at least i have failed to find any trace of their teeth in this connection no lover of trees will ever forget his first meeting with the sugar pine nor will he afterward need a poet to call him to listen what the pine tree in most pine trees there is a of expression which to most people is apt to become monotonous for the typical form however beautiful affords but little scope for individual character the sugar pine is as free from of form and motion as any oak no two are alike even to the most observer and notwithstanding they are ever tossing out their immense arms in what might seem most extravagant gestures there is a majesty and repose about them that all possibility of the grotesque or even picturesque in their general expression they are the priests of pines and seem ever to be addressing the surrounding forest the yellow pine is found growing with them on warm and the white silver fir on cool northern slopes but noble as these are the sugar pine is easily king and his arms above them in blessing while they the forests rock and wave in sign of recognition the main branches are sometimes found to be forty feet in length yet persistently simple seldom dividing at all excepting near the end but anything like a bare cable appearance is prevented by the small that extend all around them and when these superb limbs sweep out on all sides a crown sixty or seventy feet wide is formed which gracefully poised on the summit of the noble shaft and filled with sunshine is one of the most glorious forest objects conceivable commonly however there is a great of limbs toward the east away from the direction of the prevailing winds no other pine seems to me so and in approaching it we feel as if in the presence of a superior being and begin to walk with a light step holding our breath then perchance while we gaze awe stricken along comes a merry chattering and laughing to break the spell running up the trunk with no ceremony and off the as if they were made only for him while the carpenter away at the bark holes in which to store his winter supply of although so wild and when the sugar pine is a remarkably proper tree in youth the old is the most original and independent in appearance of all the the young is the most regular a strict of fashions slim erect with leafy branches kept exactly in place each in outline and in a point the the mountains of forms presented between the cautious neatness of youth and bold freedom of maturity offer a delightful study at the age of fifty or sixty years the shy fashionable form begins to young sugar pine beginning be broken up branches push out in the most of places and bend with the great at once marking individual character and this being constantly from year to year by the varying action of the sunlight winds the forests snow storms etc the individuality of the tree is never again lost in the general forest the most constant companion of this species is the yellow pine and a worthy companion it is the and the white silver fir are also more or less associated with it but on many deep soiled mountain sides the mountains of at an elevation of about feet above the sea it forms the bulk of the forest filling every swell and hollow and down plunging the majestic crowns approaching each other in bold curves make a glorious through which the tempered pour the needles and the massive and park like ground into a scene of enchantment on the most sunny slopes the white f ra grant is spread like a carpet brightened during early summer with the crimson the wild rose and innumerable and not even in the will you find any rank weeds or darkness on the north sides of the are more slender arid the ground is mostly occupied by an of | 28 |
and but never so as to prevent the from where he will while the crowning branches are never impenetrable to the rays of the sun and never so as to lose their individuality view the forest from beneath or from some commanding ridge top each tree presents a study in itself and the surpassing grandeur of the species yellow or silver pine the silver or yellow pine as it is commonly called ranks second among the pines of the as a lumber tree and almost rivals the sugar pine in stature and of port because of its the forests superior powers of enduring variations of climate and soil it has a more extensive range than growing on the on the western slope it is first met at an elevation of about feet and extends nearly to the upper limit of the timber line thence crossing the range by the lowest passes it to the eastern base and out for a considerable distance into the hot plains growing bravely upon lake and beds planting itself upon the lips of flourishing vigorously even there and tossing ripe among the ashes and of nature s the average size of full grown trees on the western slope where it is associated with the sugar pine is a little less than feet in height and from five to six feet in though specimens may easily be found that are considerably larger i measured one growing at an elevation of feet in the valley of the that is a few inches over eight feet in and feet high where there is plenty of free sunshine and other conditions are favorable it presents a striking contrast in form to the sugar pine being a spire formed of a straight round trunk clad with innumerable branches that are divided over and over again about one half of the trunk is commonly but where it grows at all close three or more become naked the tree presenting then a more slender and elegant shaft than any other tree in the woods the bark is mostly arranged in massive plates some of them measuring the mountains of four or five feet in length by eighteen inches in width with a thickness of three or four inches the forests forming a quite marked and feature the needles are of a fine warm yellow green color six to eight inches long firm and elastic and crowded in handsome radiant on the ends of the branches the are about three or four inches long and two and a half wide growing in close clusters among the leaves the species its noblest form in filled up lake especially in those of the older and so prominent a part does it form of their groves that it may well be called the pine specimens situated are almost always feet or more in height and the branches clothe the trunk nearly to the ground as seen in the illustration the variety its finest development in the northern portion of the range in the wide of the and rivers where it forms magnificent forests scarcely invaded by any other tree it from the ordinary form in size being only about half as tall and in its and more closely bark green foliage less divided branches and larger but forms come in which make a clear separation impossible although some regard it as a distinct species it is this variety that storm swept and out among the of the great basin whether exposed to extremes of heat or cold it is like every other tree and becomes all knots and angles wholly unlike the majestic forms we have been old specimens bearing about as big as may sometimes be found clinging to the mountains of rocks at an elevation of seven or eight thousand feet whose highest branches scarce reach above one s shoulders i have on the beauty of these noble trees when they were towering in all their winter grandeur laden with snow one mass of bloom in summer too when the brown clusters hang thick among the needles and the big purple are in the mellow light but it is during wind storms that these colossal pines are most beautiful then they bow like their leaves streaming forward all in one direction and when the sun shines upon them at the required angle entire groves glow as if every leaf were the fall of light on the royal crown of a palm silver pine feet high is a c the form in i v j valley the sun flood the forests breaking upon the glossy leaves in long lance rays like mountain water among but to me there is something more impressive in the fall of light upon these silver pines it seems beaten to the finest dust and is shed off in of minute that seem to come from the very heart of the trees as if like rain falling upon fertile soil it had been absorbed to in flowers of light this species also gives forth the finest music to the wind after listening to it in all kinds of winds night and day season after season i think i could to my position on the mountains by this pine music alone if you would catch the tones of separate needles climb a tree they are well tempered and give forth no uncertain sound each standing out with no interference excepting during heavy then you may detect the click of one needle upon another readily from their free wing like hum some idea of their temper may be drawn from the fact that notwithstanding they are so long the that give rise to the peculiar of the light are made at the rate of about two hundred and fifty per minute when a sugar pine and one of this species equal in size are observed together the latter is seen to be far more | 28 |
simple in manners more graceful and its beauty is of a kind more easily appreciated but then it is on the other hand much less dignified and original in the silver pine seems eager to shoot aloft even while it is in autumn sun gold you may still detect a but the sugar pine seems too unconsciously noble and too complete in every way to leave room for even a care the mountains of tree is the king of the as the sugar pine is king of pines it is by far the most majestic i ever beheld in any forest and one of the largest and longest lived of the giants that flourish throughout the main pine belt often a height of nearly feet and a of six or seven where the growth is not too close the strong spreading branches come more than down the trunk and these are hung with innumerable slender swaying that are handsomely with the short leaves which at right angles all around them this vigorous is ever beautiful the mountain winds and the snow as well as the mellow summer light and maintaining its youthful freshness from century to century through a thousand storms it makes its finest appearance in the months of june and july the rich brown with which its are tipped swell and break about this time revealing the young leaves which at first are bright yellow making the tree appear as if covered with gay blossoms while the with their shell like scales are a constant the young trees are mostly gathered into beautiful family groups each exquisitely the branches are regularly around the generally in while each is draped with long that descend in curves as free and as finely drawn as those of falling water the in and washington it grows in dense forests growing tall and mast like to height of feet and is greatly as a lumber tree but in the it is scattered among other trees or forms small groves seldom ascending higher than feet and never making what would be called a forest it is not particular in its choice of soil wet or dry smooth or rocky it makes out to live well on them all two of the largest specimens i have measured are in valley one of which is more than eight feet in and is growing upon the of the that occupied the south fork the other is nearly as large growing upon blocks of granite that have been shaken from the front of the liberty cap near the fall no other tree seems so capable of itself to earthquake and many of these rough slopes are occupied by it almost exclusively especially in by the spray of incense the incense is another of the giants quite generally distributed throughout this portion of the forest without exclusively occupying any considerable area or even making extensive groves it to about feet on the warmer and reaches the climate most congenial to it at about from to feet growing vigorously at this elevation on all kinds of soil and in particular it is cap the mountains of able of enduring more moisture about its roots than any of its companions excepting only the the largest specimens are about feet high and seven feet in the bark is brown of a singularly rich tone very attractive to artists and the foliage is tinted with a warmer yellow than that of any other in the woods casting your eye over the general forest from some ridge top the color alone of its is sufficient to identify it in any company in youth say up to the age of seventy or eighty years no other tree forms so strictly a from top to bottom the branches outward and downward in bold curves excepting the younger ones near the top which while the lowest to the ground and all spread out in flat beautifully and upon one another as it becomes older it grows strikingly irregular and picturesque large special branches put out at right angles from the trunk form big stubborn elbows and then shoot up parallel with the very old trees are usually dead at the top the main above ample masses of green gray and covered and full of holes by the the are exceedingly beautiful no waving in shady is more beautiful in form and texture or half so inspiring in color and fragrance in its prime the whole tree is with them so that they shed off rain and snow like a roof making fine for storm bound birds and but if you would see the in all its glory you must the mountains of go to the woods in winter then it is laden with of four sided about the size of wheat winter wheat producing a golden tinge and forming a noble illustration of nature s immortal vigor and the fertile are about three of an inch long borne on the outside of the where they serve to still more the surpassing beauty of this grand winter blooming white silver fir we come now to the most regularly planted of all the main forest composed almost exclusively of two noble a and a it extends with no marked interruption for miles at an elevation of from to nearly feet above the sea in its youth a is a tree with branches regularly i in level col around its whit fore t of grand silver ih two in the d gray oh the left m a strong the forests hopeful shoot the leaves are in two rows along that commonly are less than eight years old forming handsome like the of the are green when ripe about from three to four inches long by one and a half to two inches wide and stand upright on the upper branches full grown trees situated as to soil and exposure are about feet high and five | 28 |
or six feet in near the ground though larger specimens are by no means rare as old age on the bark becomes and the branches lose their exact regularity many are snow bent or broken off and the main often becomes double or otherwise irregular from accidents to the bud or shoot but throughout all the of its life on the mountains come what may the noble grandeur of the species is patent to every eye magnificent silver fir or red fir this is the most of all the giants of the woods far surpassing its companion species in this respect and easily distinguished from it by the red bark which is also more closely than that of the white and by its larger more regularly and branches and by its leaves which arc shorter and grow all around the and point upward the mountains of in size these two silver are about equal the perhaps a little the taller specimens from to feet high are not rare on soil at an elevation of from to feet above sea level the largest that i measured stands back three miles from the brink of the north wall of valley fifteen years ago it was feet high with a of a little more than five feet happy the man with the freedom and the love to climb one of these superb trees in full flower and fruit how admirable the forest work of nature is then seen to be as one makes his way up through the midst of the broad f branches all arranged in exquisite order around the trunk like the leaves of lilies and each branch and about as strictly as the most the are seen growing straight downward from the under side of the young branches in lavish profusion making fine purple clusters amid the green foliage on the branches the fertile are set firmly on end like small they are about six inches long three wide covered with a fine gray down and with crystal that seems to have been poured upon each from above both the silver live years or more when the conditions about them are at all favorable some venerable may often be seen heavily storm marked towering in severe majesty above the rising generation with a protecting grove of pressing close around his feet each dressed with such loving care that not a leaf seems want the mountains of ing other companies are made up of trees near the prime of life exquisitely to one another in form and gesture as if nature had them one by one with nice from all the rest of the woods it is from this tree called red fir by the that always cut boughs to sleep on when they are so fortunate as to be within its limits two rows of the branches along the middle and a of smaller mixed with and flowers for a pillow form the very best bed imaginable the of the pressed leaves seem to fill every pore of one s body the sounds of falling water make a soothing hush while the spaces between the grand afford noble through which to gaze into the sky even in the matter of ease any combination of cloth steel springs and feathers seems vulgar in comparison the fir woods are delightful grounds at any time of year but most so in autumn then the noble trees are hushed in the light and with the are ripe and the seeds with their ample purple wings the air like flocks of while deer feeding in the between the groves and birds and in the branches make a pleasant stir which the deep brooding calm of the wilderness and gives a peculiar to every tree no wonder the enthusiastic went wild with joy when he first discovered this species even in the where so many noble challenge admiration we linger among these colossal the mountains of with fresh love and their beauty again and again as if no other in the world could henceforth claim our regard it is in these woods the great granite rise that are so striking and characteristic a feature of the and here too we find the best of the garden meadows they lie level on the tops of the dividing or sloping on the sides of them in the magnificent forest some of these meadows are in great part occupied by which here grows rank and tall with leaves thirteen inches long and twelve inches wide like those of grows on the with tall and waist deep in and several species of also make a bright show in beds of blue and white and but the glory of these forest meadows is a lily l the flowers are orange colored and quite small the smallest i ever saw of the true lilies but it is nevertheless for it is seven to eight feet high and waves magnificent of ten to twenty flowers or more over one s head while it stands out in the open ground with just enough of grass and other plants about it to make a fringe for its feet and show it off to best advantage a dry spot a little way back from the margin of a silver fir lily garden makes a glorious especially where the slope is toward the east and opens a view of the distant peaks along the summit of the range the tall lilies are brought forward in all their glory by the light of your blazing camp fire relieved against the outer darkness the and the nearest of the trees with their branches tower above you like larger lilies and the sky seen through the garden opening seems one vast meadow of white lily stars in the morning everything is joyous and bright the delicious purple of the dawn changes softly to yellow and white while the pouring through the passes between the peaks give a margin of | 28 |
gold to each of them then the of the in the hollows of the middle region catch the glow and your camp grove is filled with light the birds begin to stir seeking sunny branches on the edge of the meadow for sun after the cold night and looking for their every one of them as fresh as a lily and as arrayed innumerable insects begin to dance the deer from the open and ridge tops to their leafy hiding places in the the flowers open and their as the dew every pulse beats high every life cell the very rocks seem to with life and god is felt brooding over everything great and small big tree between the heavy pine and silver fir we find the big tree the king of all the in the world the noblest of a noble race it extends in a widely interrupted belt from a small grove on the middle fork of the american river to the head of deer creek a distance of about miles the the mountains op northern limit being near the thirty ninth parallel the southern a little below the thirty sixth and the elevation of the belt above the sea from about to feet from the american river grove to the forest on king s river the species occurs only in small isolated groups so distributed along the belt that three of the in it are from forty to sixty miles wide but from bang s river southward the is not to mere groves but extends across the broad rugged of the and rivers in noble forests a distance of nearly seventy miles the of this part of the belt being broken only by deep the the largest of the northern groves an area of three or four square miles a short distance to the southward of the famous grove along the rim of the of the south fork of king s river there is a majestic forest of about six miles long by two wide this is the assemblage of big trees that may fairly be called a forest descending the divide between the king s river and you enter the grand forests that form the main continuous portion of the belt advancing southward the giants become more and more heaving their massive crowns into the sky from every ridge and slope and waving onward in graceful compliance with the complicated of the region the finest of the section of the belt is on the broad ridge between marble creek and the middle fork and extends from the granite overlooking the hot plains to within a few the miles of the cool fountains of the summit peaks the extreme upper limit of the belt is reached between the middle and south forks of the at an elevation of feet but the finest block of big tree forest in the entire belt is on the north fork of in the northern groves there are comparatively few young trees or but here for every old storm stricken giant there are many in all the glory of prime vigor and for each of these a crowd of eager hopeful young trees and growing heartily on rocky along and in the moist of meadows seemingly in hot pursuit of eternal life but though the area occupied by the species so much from north to south there is no marked increase in the size of the trees a height of feet and a near the ground of about feet is perhaps about the average size of trees situated specimens feet in are not very rare and a few are nearly feet high in the grove there are four trees over feet in height the of which by careful is feet the largest i have yet met in the course of my is a majestic old monument in the king s forest it is feet inches in inside the bark four feet from the ground under the most favorable conditions these giants probably live years or more though few of even the larger trees are more than half as old i never saw a big tree that had died a natural death accidents they seem to be immortal the mountains of being from all the diseases that and kill other trees unless destroyed by man they live on until burned smashed by lightning or cast down by storms or by the giving way of the ground on which they stand the age of one that was in the grove for the sake of having its stump for a dancing floor was about years and its measured across the stump feet inside the bark another that was cut down in the king s river forest was about the same size but nearly a thousand years older years though not a very old looking tree it was to procure a section for exhibition and thus an opportunity was given to count its annual rings of growth the colossal monument in the king s river forest mentioned above is burned half through and i spent a day in making an estimate of its age clearing away the surface with an ax and carefully counting the annual rings with the aid of a pocket the wood rings in the section i laid bare were so involved and in some places that i was not able to determine its age exactly but i counted over rings which showed that this tree was in its prime swaying in the winds when christ walked the earth no other tree in the world as far as i know has looked down on so many centuries as the or opens such impressive and suggestive views into history so exquisitely harmonious and finely balanced are even the very of these of the woods in all their proportions and circumstances there never is anything overgrown or monstrous the looking about them on coming in sight of them for the first time you are likely | 28 |
to say oh see what beautiful noble looking trees are towering there among the and pines their grandeur being in the mean time in great part invisible but to the living eye it will be manifested sooner or later stealing slowly on the senses like the grandeur of or the lofty their great size is hidden from the inexperienced observer as long as they are seen at a distance in one harmonious view when however you approach them and walk round them you begin to wonder at their colossal size and seek a measuring rod these giants considerably at the base but not more than is required for beauty and safety and the only reason that this seems in some cases excessive is that only a comparatively small section of the shaft is seen at once in near views one that i measured in the bang s river forest was feet in at the ground and feet in feet above the ground showing that the of the trunk as a whole is fine and when you stand back far enough to see the massive columns from the swelling to the lofty summit in a dome of you rejoice in the display of combined grandeur and beauty about a hundred feet or more of the trunk is usually but its massive simplicity is relieved by the bark which instead of making an irregular run parallel like the of an column and to some extent by of slender that wave lightly in the winds and cast the mountains of of shade seeming to have been pinned on here and there for the sake of beauty only the young trees have slender simple branches down to the ground put on with strict regularity sharply at the top about half way down and drooping in handsome curves at the base by the time the is five or six hundred years old this habit into the firm rounded dome form of middle age which in turn takes on the eccentric of old age no other tree in the forest has foliage so or presents outlines so firmly drawn and so steadily subordinate to a special type a looking branch five to eight feet thick may be seen pushing out abruptly from the smooth trunk as if sure to throw the regular curve into confusion but as soon as the general outline is reached it stops short and in spreading of law abiding just as if every tree were growing beneath some huge invisible bell glass against whose sides every branch was being pressed and yet somehow indulging in so many small from the regular form that there is still an appearance of freedom the foliage of the is dark green in color while the older trees to a warm yellow tint like the bark is rich brown in young trees and in shady portions of the old while the ground is covered with brown leaves and forming of extraordinary richness not to mention the flowers and that rejoice about them in their seasons walk the woods at any time the forests of year and you will say they are the most beautiful and majestic on earth beautiful and impressive meet you everywhere the colors of tree and flower rock and sky light and shade strength and endurance and of bushes tree pillars about as rigid as granite roses and the smallest of their kind blooming around the feet of the giants and of the lowly where the fall then in winter the trees themselves break forth in bloom of small four sided crowd the ends of the slender the whole tree and when ripe the air and the ground with golden the fertile are bright grass green measuring about two inches in length by one and a half in thickness and are made up of about forty firm scales packed with from five to eight seeds at the base of each a single therefore contains from two to three hundred seeds which are about a fourth of an inch long by three wide including a thin flat margin that makes them go glancing and wavering in their fall like a boy s the f of may be illustrated by two specimen branches one and a half and two inches in on which i counted no other produces nearly so many seeds millions are by a single tree and in a fruitful year the product of one of the northern groves would be enough to plant all the mountain of the world nature takes care however that not one seed in a million shall at all and of those that do perhaps not one the mountains of in ten thousand is suffered to live through the many of storm fire and snow crushing that beset their youth the is the happy of most of the out of every hundred perhaps ninety to his share and unless cut off by his ivory they shake out their seeds and remain on the tree for many years watching the at their harvest work in the indian summer is one of the most ul imaginable the woods are calm and the ripe colors are blazing in all their glory the laden trees stand motionless in the warm air and you may see the crimson the prince of some dead limb or fallen trunk with his bill and ever and anon filling the with his happy the humming bird too dwells in these noble woods and may be seen glancing among the flowers or resting on some here also are the familiar robin of the and the brown and bears so obviously fitted for these majestic and the making more vital stir than all the bears birds and humming wings together as soon as any accident happens to the crown of these such as being stricken off by lightning or broken by storms then the branches beneath the wound no matter how situated seem to be excited like a colony | 28 |
of bees that have lost their queen and become anxious to repair the damage limbs that have grown outward for centuries at right angles to the trunk begin to turn upward to the assist in making a new crown each speedily the special form of true even in the case of mere burned half through some mere ornamental will try to go aloft and do its best as a leader in forming a new head groups of two or three of these grand trees are often found standing close together the seeds from which they sprang having probably grown on ground cleared for their reception by the fall of a large tree of a former generation these patches of fresh mellow soil beside the roots of the fallen giant may be from forty to sixty feet wide and they are speedily occupied by out of these perhaps two or three may become trees forming those close groups called three graces loving couples etc for even supposing that the trees should stand twenty or thirty feet apart while young by the time they are their trunks will touch and crowd against each other and even appear as one in some cases it is generally believed that this grand was once far more widely distributed over the but after long and careful study i have come to the conclusion that it never was at least since the close of the period because a search along the of the groves and in the between fails to reveal a single trace of its previous existence beyond its present bounds notwithstanding i feel confident that if every in the range were to die to day numerous monuments of their existence would remain of so a nature as to be available for the student more than ten thousand years hence the mountains of in the first place we might notice that no species of tree in the range keeps its individuals so well together as a mile is perhaps the greatest distance of any from the main body and all of those that have come under my observation are young instead of old trees relics of a more extended growth again trunks frequently endure for centuries after they fall i have a specimen block cut from a fallen trunk which is hardly from specimens cut from living trees although the old trunk fragment from which it was derived has lain in the damp forest more than years probably thrice as long the time measure in the case is simply this when the ponderous trunk to which the old belonged fell it sunk itself into the ground thus making a long straight ditch and in the middle of this ditch a silver fir is growing that is now four feet in and years old as determined by cutting it half through and counting the rings thus that the remnant of the trunk that made the ditch has lain on the ground more than years for it is evident that to find the whole time we must add to the years the time that the vanished portion of the trunk lay in the ditch before being burned out of the way the time that passed before the seed from which the fir sprang fell into the prepared soil and took root now because trunks are never wholly consumed in one forest fire and those fires only at considerable intervals and because after being cleared are often left for centuries it becomes the forests evident that the trunk remnant in question may probably have lain a thousand years or more and this instance is by no means a rare one but admitting that upon those supposed to have been once covered with every tree may have fallen and every trunk may have been burned or buried leaving not a remnant many of the made by the fall of the ponderous trunks and the made by their roots would remain patent for thousands of years after the last of the trunks that made them had vanished much of this ditch writing would no doubt be quickly by the flood action of overflowing streams and rain washing but no portion would remain engraved on ridge tops beyond such destructive action for where all the conditions are favorable it is almost now these historic and root occur in all the present groves and forests hut as far as i have observed not the faintest of one presents itself outside of them we therefore conclude that the area covered by has not been diminished during the last eight or ten thousand years and probably not at all in post times is the species to f what are its relations to climate soil and associated trees f all the phenomena bearing on these questions also throw light as we shall endeavor to show upon the peculiar distribution of the species and sustain the conclusion already arrived at on the question of extension in the northern groups as we have seen there the mountains of are few young trees or growing up around the failing old ones to the race and in as much as those aged so nearly are the only ones commonly known the species to most seems doomed to speedy as being nothing more than an remnant in the so called struggle for life by pines and that have driven it into its last in moist where climate is favorable but the language of the majestic continuous forests of the south a very different impression no tree of all the forest is more established in with climate and soil it grows heartily everywhere on rocky along and in the deep moist of meadows with a multitude of and crowding up around the aged seemingly abundantly able to maintain the forest in prime vigor for every old tree there is one or more in all the glory of prime and for each of these many young trees and crowds of so that | 28 |
spring of the present showing that no extraordinary has taken place in the volume of the upper of streams since they came into existence but in the mean time all this complicated question of change the plain fact remains that the present rain and is abundantly sufficient for the growth of forests indeed all my observations tend to show that in a prolonged the sugar pines and would perish before the not alone because of the greater of individual trees but because the species can endure more and make the most of whatever moisture falls again if the and irregular distribution of the species be interpreted as a result of the of the range then instead of increasing as it does in individuals toward the south where the is less it should the forests if then the peculiar distribution of has not been governed by superior conditions of soil as to or moisture by what has it been governed f in the course of my studies i observed that the northern groves the only ones i was at first acquainted with were on just those portions of the general forest soil belt that were first laid bare toward the close of the period when the ice sheet began to break up into individual and while searching the wide basin of the san and trying to account for the absence of where every condition seemed favorable for its growth it occurred to me that this remarkable gap in the belt is exactly in the basin of the vast ancient de of the san and king s river which poured its frozen floods to the plain fed by the that fell on more than fifty miles of the summit i then perceived that the next great gap in the belt to the northward forty miles wide extending between the and groves occurs in the basin of the great ancient de of the and and that the smaller gap between the and groves occurs in the basin of the smaller of the the wider the ancient the wider the corresponding gap in the belt finally pursuing my across the of the and i discovered that the belt attained its greatest development just where owing to the peculiarities of the region the ground had been most per the mountains of f protected from the main ice rivers that continued to pour past from the summit fountains long after the smaller local had been melted taking now a general view of the belt beginning at the south we see that the majestic ancient were shed off right and left down the valleys of and king s rivers by the lofty spurs above the warm filled of the and then next northward occurs the wide less channel or basin of the ancient san and king s river met de then the warm protected spots of and groves then the channel of the ancient next the warm sheltered ground of the and groves then the less channel of the grand ancient de of the and then the warm old ground of the and groves it appears therefore that just where at a certain period in the history of the the were not there the is and just where the were there the is not what the other conditions may have been that enabled to establish itself upon these oldest and warmest portions of the main soil belt i cannot say i might venture to state however in this connection that since the forests present a more and more ancient aspect as they extend southward i am inclined to think that the species was distributed from the south while the sugar pine its great rival in the northern groves seems to have come around the head of the the forests valley and down the from the north consequently when the soil beds were first thrown open to on the melting of the ice sheet the may have established itself along the available portions of the south half of the range prior to the arrival of the sugar pine while the sugar pine took possession of the north half prior to the arrival of but however much uncertainty may attach to this branch of the question there are no shadows upon the grand general relationship we have pointed out between the present distribution of and the ancient of the and when we bear in mind that all the present forests of the are young growing on soil recently deposited and that the flank of the range itself with all its is new born recently and brought to the light of day from beneath the ice mantle of the winter then a thousand lawless mysteries disappear and broad take their places but although all the observed phenomena bearing on the post history of this colossal tree point to the conclusion that it never was more widely distributed on the since the close of the epoch that its present forests are scarcely past prime if indeed they have reached prime that the post day of the species is probably not half done yet when from a wider outlook the vast antiquity of the is considered and its ancient richness in species and individuals comparing our giant and of the coast range the only other living species of se the mountains op with the twelve species already discovered and described by and some of which seem to have flourished over vast in the regions and in europe and our own during and times then indeed it becomes plain that our two species to narrow within the limits of are mere of the both as to species and individuals and that they probably are to but the verge of a period beginning in times may have a breadth of of thousands of years not to mention the possible existence of conditions calculated to and both species and individuals this however is a branch of the question into which i do not now | 28 |
purpose to enter in studying the fate of our forest king we have thus far considered the action of purely natural causes only but unfortunately man is in the woods and waste and pure destruction are making rapid if the importance of forests were at all understood even from an their preservation would call forth the most watchful attention of government only of late years by means of forest has the simplest for available been laid while in many of the finest groves every species of destruction is still moving on with speed in the course of my i found no fewer than five mills on or near the lower edge of the belt all of which were cutting considerable quantities of big tree lumber the forests most of the group are doomed to feed the mills recently erected near them and a company of are now cutting the magnificent forest on king s in these operations waste far use for after the choice young trees on any given spot have been the woods are fired to clear the ground of limbs and refuse with reference to further operations and of course most of the and are destroyed these mill however are small as compared with the comprehensive destruction caused by incredible numbers of sheep are driven to the mountain pastures every summer and their course is ever marked by desolation every wild garden is trodden down the shrubs are stripped of leaves as if devoured by and the woods are burned fires are set everywhere with a view to clearing the ground of prostrate trunks to the movements of the flocks and improve the pastures the entire forest belt is thus swept and from one extremity of the range to the other and with the exception of the suffers most of all indians burn off the in certain to deer hunting and carelessly allow their to run but the fires of the or form more than ninety per cent of all destructive fires that range the forests it appears therefore that notwithstanding our forest king might live on in nature s keeping it is rapidly vanishing before the fire and the mountains of steel of man and unless measures be speedily invented and applied in a few at the farthest all that will be left of will be a few and monuments two ob pine this species forms the bulk of the forests extending along the range above the fir up to a height of from to feet above the sea growing in beautiful order upon that are scarcely changed as yet by post compared with the giants of the lower this is a small tree seldom a height of a hundred feet the largest specimen i ever measured was ninety feet in height and a little over six in four feet from the ground the average height of mature trees throughout the entire belt is probably not far from fifty or sixty feet with a of two feet it is a well rather handsome little pine with brown bark and crooked much divided branches which cover the greater portion of the trunk not so however as to prevent its being seen the lower limbs curve downward gradually take a position about half way up the trunk then more and more toward the summit thus forming a sharp top the foliage is short and rigid two leaves in a arranged in comparatively long at the ends of the tough the are about two inches the long growing in stiff clusters among the needles without making any striking effect except while very young when they are of a vivid crimson color and the whole tree appears to be dotted with brilliant flowers the are still more on account of their great abundance often giving a yellow tinge to the whole mass of the foliage and filling the air with no other pine on the range is so regularly planted as this one forests sweep along the sides of the high rocky valleys for miles without interruption still strictly speaking they are not dense for of sunshine and flowers find their way into the darkest places where the trees grow and tall are specially abundant beneath them growing over all the ground in sunshine and shade over extensive like a farmer s crop and serving as pasture for the multitude of sheep that are driven from the arid plains every summer as soon as the snow is melted the two pine more than any other is subject to destruction by fire the thin bark is and sprinkled with as though it had been down upon it like rain so that even the green trees catch fire readily and during strong winds whole forests are destroyed the flames leaping from tree to tree forming one continuous belt of roaring fire that goes and racing onward above the bending woods like the grass fires of a during the calm dry season of indian summer the fire quietly along the ground feeding on the dry needles and then arriving at the foot of a tree the bark is and the mountains of the heated air in a powerful current increasing in and dragging the flames swiftly upward then the leaves catch fire and an immense column of flame beautifully on the edges and tinted a rose purple hue rushes aloft thirty or forty feet above the top of the tree forming a grand spectacle especially on a dark night it lasts however only a few seconds vanishing with rapidity to be succeeded by others along the at irregular intervals for weeks at a time tree after tree flashing and darkening leaving the trunks and branches hardly the heat however is sufficient to kill the trees and in a few years the bark and falls off miles in extent are thus killed and left standing with the branches on and rigid appealing gray in the distance like misty clouds later the branches drop off | 28 |
leaving a forest of at length the roots decay and the forlorn trunks are blown down during some storm and piled one upon another the ground until they are consumed by the next fire and leave it ready for a fresh crop the endurance of the species is shown by its wandering occasionally out over the plains with the yellow pine and climbing mountain sides with the dwarf pine clinging to any chance support in and of rocks always however showing the effects of such hardships in every feature down in sheltered lake hollows on beds of rich it so far from the common form as frequently to be taken for a distinct species here it grows in dense like from forty to the forests eighty feet high bending all together to the breeze and whirling in more than any other tree in the woods i have frequently found specimens fifty feet high less than five inches in being thus slender and at the same time well clad with leafy boughs it is bent to the ground when laden with soft snow forming beautiful arches in endless variety some of which last until the melting of the snow in spring mountain pine the mountain pine is king of the woods brave hardy and long lived towering above its companions and becoming stronger and more imposing just where other species begin to and disappear at its best it is usually about ninety feet high and five or six in though a specimen is often met considerably larger than this the trunk is as massive and as suggestive of enduring strength as that of an oak about two thirds of the trunk is commonly free of limbs but close f of occur all the way down like those which adorn the colossal shafts of the bark is deep brown upon trees that occupy exposed situations near its upper limit and rather deeply the main running nearly parallel with each other and connected by conspicuous cross which with one exception are as far as i have noticed peculiar to this species the mountains op the are from four to eight inches long slender and somewhat curved resembling the common white pine of the atlantic coast they grow in clusters of about from three to six or seven becoming as they increase in weight chiefly by the bending of the branches this species is nearly related to the sugar pine and f though not half so tall it constantly suggests its noble relative in the way that it extends its long arms and in general habit the mountain pine is first met on the upper margin of the fir growing singly in a subdued form in what appear as chance situations without making much impression on the general forest continuing up through the two pines in the same scattered growth it begins to show its character and at an elevation of about feet its noblest development near the middle of the range tossing its tough arms in the frosty air storms and feeding on them and reaching the grand old age of years or red the is a rock tree occupying the and where there is scarcely a handful of soil at a height of from to feet in such situations the trunk is frequently over eight feet in and not much more in height the top is almost always dead in old trees and great stubborn limbs push the forests out that are mostly broken and bare at the ends but covered and here and there with of gray foliage some are mere as broad as long decorated with a few leafy re one of the crumbling towers of some ancient castle draped with ivy only upon the head waters of the have i found this species established on good soil here it with the silver and two pines in great beauty and a height of from forty to sixty feet and but little of that rocky so characteristic a feature the mountains of throughout the greater portion of its range two of the largest growing at the head of hope valley measured twenty nine feet three inches and twenty five feet six inches in four feet from the ground the bark is of a bright color and in trees beautifully and off in thin ribbons that are sometimes used by indians for tent its fine color and odd always catch an artist s eye but to me the seems a singularly dull and tree never speaking to one s heart i have spent many a day and night in its company in all kinds of weather and have ever found it silent cold and rigid like a column of ice its broad of course all possibility of waving or even shaking but it is not this rocky that its silence in calm sun days the sugar pine the grandeur of the mountains like an without moving a leaf on level rocks it dies standing and out of existence like granite the wind about as little control over it alive or dead as it does over a some are undoubtedly over years old all the trees of the woods suffer more or less from the two pine most of all two or three hundred yards wide extending from the upper limit of the tree line to the of valleys and lake are of common occurrence in all the upper forests resembling the of in the old scarcely a the forests tree is spared even the soil is scraped away while the thousands of pines and are piled upon one another heads downward and tucked in along the sides of the clearing in two like the pines lie with branches and drooping like weeds not so the after in silence the storms of perhaps a dozen or twenty centuries they seem in this their last calamity to become somewhat making sign of a very unwilling acceptance of their fate holding themselves well up | 28 |
from the ground on knees and elbows seemingly ill at ease and anxious like stubborn to rise again i the is the most singularly beautiful of all the so slender is its at the top that it over and like the stalk of a nodding lily the branches also and divide into innumerable slender waving which are arranged in a varied eloquent harmony that is wholly indescribable its are purple and hang free in the form of little two inches long from all the from top to bottom though exquisitely delicate and feminine in expression it grows best where the snow lies deepest far up in the region of storms at an elevation of from to feet on frosty northern slopes but it is capable of the mountains of et os nd seven in four feet from the ground growing on the edge of lake hollow at an elevation of feet above the level of the sea at the age of twenty or thirty years it becomes fruitful and hangs out its beautiful purple at the ends of the slender where they swing free in the breeze and contrast delightfully with the cool green foliage they are when young and their beauty is delicious after they are fully ripe the forests they spread their shell like scales and allow the brown winged seeds to fly in the mellow air while the empty remain to the tree until the coming of a fresh crop the of all the are beautiful growing in bright clusters yellow and rose and crimson those of the are the most beautiful of all forming little of blue flowers each on a slender stem under all conditions sheltered or well fed or ill fed this tree is singularly graceful in habit even at its highest limit upon exposed though compelled to in dense huddled close together as if for mutual protection it still to throw out its in irrepressible loveliness while on well ground soil it a perfectly tropical of foliage and fruit and is the very loveliest tree in the forest poised in thin white sunshine clad with branches from head to foot yet not in the faintest degree heavy or it towers in majesty drooping as if unaffected with the tendencies of its race loving the ground while conscious of heaven and of its blessings reaching out its branches like sensitive feeling the light and in it no other of our so finely its strength its delicate branches yield to the mountains breath yet is it strong to meet the wildest of the gale strong not in resistance but compliance bowing snow laden to the ground gracefully accepting burial month after month in the darkness beneath the heavy mantle of winter the mountains of when the first soft snow begins to fall the lodge in the leaves weighing down the branches against the trunk then the yet lower and lower until the slender top touches the ground thus forming a fine ornamental arch the snow still falls and the whole tree is at length buried to sleep and rest in its beautiful grave as though dead entire groves of young trees from ten to forty feet high are thus buried every winter like slender but like the and which the heaviest crush not they are safe it is as though this were only nature s method of putting her to sleep instead of leaving them exposed to the biting storms of winter thus warmly wrapped they await the summer the snow becomes soft in the sunshine and at night making the mass hard and compact like ice so that during the months of april and may you can ride a horse over the prostrate groves without catching sight of a single leaf at length the down pouring sunshine sets them free first the elastic tops of the arches begin to appear then one branch after another each springing loose with a gentle rustling sound and at length the whole tree with the assistance of the winds gradually and rises and settles back into its place in the warm air as dry and and fresh as young just out of the some of the finest groves i have yet found are on the southern slopes of s there are also many charming companies on the head waters of the and san and in general the species is so far from being rare the that you can scarcely fail to find groves of considerable extent in crossing the range choose what pass you may the mountain pine grows beside it and more frequently the two species but there are many beautiful groups individuals or more without a single intruder i wish i had space to write more of the surpassing beauty of this favorite every is sure to regard it with special admiration even seeking only game or gold stop to gaze on first meeting it and to themselves that s a mighty pretty tree some of them adding d d pretty in autumn when its are ripe ha little striped and the and the crow make a happy stir in its groves the deer love to lie down beneath its spreading branches bright streams from the snow that is always near ripple through its groves and precious carpets in its shade but the best words only hint its charms come to the mountains and see dwarf pine this species forms the extreme edge of the timber line throughout nearly the whole extent of the range on both it is first met growing in company with on the upper margin of the belt as an erect tree from fifteen to thirty feet high and from one to two feet in thickness thence it goes straggling up the of the the mountains of summit peaks upon or crumbling wherever it can obtain a to an elevation of from to feet where it to a mass of prostrate branches covered with slender upright shoots each tipped with a | 28 |
short close packed of leaves the bark is smooth group op erect and in some places almost white the fertile grow in rigid clusters upon the upper branches dark in color while young and bear beautiful seeds about the size of peas most of which are eaten by two species of and the notable crow the the forests occur in clusters about an inch wide down among the leaves and as they are colored bright they give rise to a lively appearance little looked for in such a tree pines are commonly regarded as sky loving trees that must necessarily or die this species forms a marked exception creeping lowly in compliance with the most demands of climate yet enduring bravely to a more advanced age than many of its lofty relatives in the sun lands below seen from a distance it would never be taken for a tree of any kind yonder for example is cathedral peak some three miles away with a scattered growth of this pine creeping like over the roof and around the edges of the north nowhere giving any hint of an ascending when approached quite near it still appears and and is so low that one experiences no great difficulty in walking over the top of it yet it is seldom absolutely prostrate at its lowest usually a height of three or four feet with a main trunk and branches and above it as if in ascending they had been checked by a ceiling against which they had grown and been compelled to spread the winter snow is indeed such a ceiling lasting half the year while the pressed surface is made yet by violent winds armed with cutting sand that beat down any shoot that offers to rise much above the general level and the dead trunks and branches in beautiful patterns during stormy nights i have often beneath the arches of this little the mountains of pine the needles which have accumulated for centuries make fine beds a fact well known to other such as deer and wild sheep who out oval hollows and lie beneath the larger trees in safe and comfortable concealment the forests the of this lowly dwarf is far greater than would be guessed here for example is a specimen growing at an elevation of feet which seems as though it might be plucked up by ths roots for it is only three and a half inches in and its is hardly three feet above the ground cutting it half through and counting the annual rings with the aid of a we find its age to be no less than years here is another telling specimen about the same height years old whose trunk is only six inches in and one of its hardly an eighth of an inch in inside the bark is seventy five years old and so filled with and so well by storms that we may tie it in knots like a whip cord white pine this species is widely distributed throughout the rocky mountains and over all the higher of the many of the great basin between the mountains and the where it is known as white pine in the it is scattered along the eastern flank from bloody southward nearly to the extremity of the range opposite the village of lone pine nowhere forming any portion of the general forest from its peculiar position in loose straggling parties it seems to have been derived from the basin to the eastward where it is abundant the mountains of it is a larger tree than the dwarf pine at an elevation of about feet above the sea it often a height of forty or fifty feet and a of from three to five feet the open freely when ripe and are twice as large as those of the and the foliage and branches are more open having a tendency to sweep out in free wild curves like those of the mountain pine to which it is closely allied it is seldom found lower than feet above sea level but from this elevation it upward over the to the extreme limit of tree growth where in its storm crushed condition it is more like the species throughout and it is one of the principal timber trees great quantities being cut every year for the mines the famous white pine district white pine city and the white pine mountains have derived their names from it needle pine this species is in the to the southern portion of the range about the head waters of kings and rivers where it forms extensive forests and in some places the dwarf pine to the extreme limit of tree growth it is first met at an elevation of between and feet and runs up to without seeming to suffer greatly from the climate or the of the soil it is a much finer tree than the the dwarf pine instead of growing in and low it in some way to maintain an erect position and usually stands single wherever the young trees are at all sheltered they grow up straight and with delicately and ascending branches terminated oak growing among yellow pines with glossy bottle brush at middle age certain limbs are and pushed far out for the bearing of after the manner of the sugar pine and in old age these branches and cast about in every direction giving rise to very picturesque effects the trunk becomes deep brown and rough like that of the mountain pine while the mountains of the young are of a strange dull blue color clustered on the upper branches when ripe they are from three to four inches long brown resembling in every way those of the mountain pine excepting the sugar pine no tree on the mountains is so capable of individual expression while in grace of form and movement it constantly reminds one of the the largest specimen i measured was | 28 |
a little over five feet in and ninety feet in height but this is more than twice the ordinary size this species is common throughout the rocky mountains and most of the short of the great basin where it is called the fox tail pine from its long dense leaf on the hot creek white pine and golden gate it is quite abundant about a foot or eighteen inches of the ends of the branches is packed with stiff needles which like an electric fox or s tail the needles have a glossy polish and the sunshine through them makes them burn with silvery while their number and elastic temper tell delightfully in the winds this tree is here still more original and picturesque than in the far surpassing not only its companion in this respect but also the most noted of the oaks some stand firmly erect with radiant down to the ground forming slender towers of shining others with two or three branches pushed out at right angles to the trunk and clad with take the form of beautiful ornamental crosses again in the same woods you the find trees that are made up of several united near the ground spreading at the sides in a plane parallel to the of the mountain with the elegant hung in charming order between them making a harp held against the main wind lines where they are most effective in playing the grand storm and besides these there are many forms alone or in groups with innumerable drooping beneath the arches or radiant above and many lowly giants of no particular form that have the storms of a thousand years but whether old or young sheltered or exposed to the wildest this tree is ever found and picturesque and offers a richer and more varied series of forms to the artist than any other i know of nut pine the nut pine covers or rather the eastern flank of the to which it is mostly in bush like patches from the margin of the sage plains to an elevation of from to feet a more fruitful and could not be conceived all the species we have been make more or less distant from the typical spire form but none goes so far as this without any apparent of climate or soil it remains near the ground throwing out crooked branches like an orchard the mountains op apple tree and seldom a single shoot higher than fifteen or twenty feet above the ground the average thickness of the trunk is perhaps about ten or twelve inches the leaves are mostly like round instead of being separated like those of other pines into and and the are green while growing and are usually found over all the tree forming quite a marked feature as seen against the gray foliage they are quite small only about two inches in length and give no promise of nuts but when we come to open them we find that about half the entire bulk of the is made up of sweet seeds the of which are nearly as large as those of nuts this is undoubtedly the most important on the and the and river indians with more and better nuts than all the other species taken together it is the indians own tree and many a white man have they killed for cutting it down in its development nature seems to have aimed at the formation of as great a fruit bearing surface as possible being so low and accessible the are readily beaten off with poles and the nuts procured by them until the scales open in ul seasons a single indian will gather thirty or forty of them a fine employment of all the along the eastern base of the and on all the many mountain groups and short of the great basin this little pine is the commonest tree and the most the forests nearly every mountain is planted with it to a height of from to feet above the sea some are covered from base to summit by this one species with only a growth of on the lower slopes to break the of its curious woods which though dark looking at a distance are almost and have none of the damp leafy and hollows so characteristic of other pine woods of thousands of acres occur in continuous indeed viewed the entire basin seems to be pretty divided into level plains dotted with sage bushes and mountain chains covered with nut pines no slope is too rough none too dry for these of the red man the value of this species to is not easily it and timber for the mines and with the supplies the with fuel and rough in fruitful seasons the nut crop is perhaps greater than the wheat crop which so much influence throughout the food of the world when the crop is ripe the indians make ready the long beating poles bags baskets and are collected the women out at service among the washing or at the family huts the men leave their work old and young all are mounted on and start in great glee to the nut lands forming curiously picturesque flaming and skirts stream loosely over the two usually of each with baby in baskets on their backs or balanced on the the mountains op saddle bow while nut baskets and water project from each side and the long beating poles make angles in every direction arriving at some well known central point where grass and water are found the with baskets the men with poles ascend the to the laden trees followed by the children then the beating begins right merrily the fly in every direction rolling down the slopes lodging here and there against rocks and sage bushes chased and gathered by the women and children with fine natural gladness speedily mark the joyful scene of their labors as the fires | 28 |
are kindled and at night assembled in gay circles as they begin the first nut feast of the season the nuts are about half an inch long and a quarter of an inch in pointed at the top round at the base light brown in general color and like many other pine seeds handsomely dotted with purple like birds eggs the shells are thin and may be crushed between the thumb and finger the are white becoming brown by and are sweet to every being eaten by birds dogs horses and men perhaps less than one in a thousand of the whole crop is ever gathered still besides supplying their own wants in times of plenty the indians bring large quantities to market then they are eaten around nearly every fireside in the state and are even fed to horses occasionally instead of of other trees growing on the but forming a very small part of the general forest we may briefly notice the following the forests is a magnificent tree in the coast but small in the it is found only well to the northward along the banks of cool streams on the upper toward mount only a few trees of this species as far as i have seen have as yet gained a place in the woods it has evidently been derived from the coast range by way of the of connecting mountains at the head of the valley in shady and on cool stream banks of the northern we also find the the interesting tree is distributed along the western flank of the range at an elevation of about feet mostly in and it is a small glossy like a from twenty to fifty feet high and one to two feet in the fruit a green and contains one seed about the size of an and like a hence the common name the wood is fine and of a beautiful yellow color like box sweet scented when dry though the green leaves a disagreeable the only is a small slender tree to the eastern flank of the range along stream sides below the pine belt especially in s valley and make beautiful over swift cool streams at an elevation of from to feet mixed more or less with and cotton wood and the mountains op above these in lake the forms fine ornamental groves and lets its light shine in the autumn months the chestnut oak seems to have come from the coast range around the head of the valley like the but as it extends southward along the lower edge of the main pine belt it grows smaller until it finally to a mere bush in the coast mountains it is a fine tall rather slender tree about from sixty to seventy five feet high growing with the grand or but unfortunately it is too good to live and is now being rapidly destroyed for besides the common oak and the grand of the foot hills and several small ones that make dense of there are two mountain oaks that grow with the pines up to an elevation of about feet above the sea and greatly the beauty of the these are the mountain live oak and the oak named in honor of the admirable of s oak is a firm bright beautiful tree reaching a height of sixty feet four to seven feet in with wide spreading branches and growing at an elevation of from to feet in sunny valleys and among the and higher in a state in the cliff bound about feet above the sea it is so abundant and effective it might fairly be called the oak the leaves make beautiful tut f ii masses of p je in tie ar i yellow in autumn an i er v sa ie ed bv indians and the mountain live oak i v c i is a ragged n of a tree r bravely and noble dimensions on the earthquake uses in deep and valleys the trunk is usually short dividing near the ground into wide spreading and these again into a multitude of slender many of them cord like and drooping to the ground like those of the great white oak of the q the top of the tree where there is plenty of space is broad and with a dense covering of shining leaves making delightful the complicated system of gray branches as seen from beneath being exceedingly rich and picturesque no other tree that i know so regularly and completely as this under changes of climate due to changes in elevation at the foot of a feet above the sea you may find magnificent specimens of this oak fifty feet high with trunks five to seven feet in and at the head of the feet higher a dense soft low growth of the same species while all the way up the between these extremes of size and habit a perfect may be traced the largest i have seen was fifty feet high eight feet in and about seventy five feet in spread the trunk was all knots and gray like granite and about as and irregular as the on which it was growing a type of steadfast strength chapter ix the the is by far the most interesting and influential of the surpassing every other species in force of character numbers and extent of range and in the amount of influence he brings to bear upon the health and distribution of the vast forests he go where you will throughout the noble woods of the among the giant pines and of the lower up through the towering silver to the storm bent of the summit peaks you everywhere find this little the master existence though only a few inches long so intense is his fiery vigor and restlessness he every grove with wild life and makes himself more important than even the huge bears that through the tangled beneath | 28 |
with comic vehemence while a torrent of angry notes comes rushing from his lips that sounds remarkably like swearing he will even attempt at times to drive away dogs and men especially if he has had no previous knowledge of them seeing a man for the first time he approaches nearer and nearer until within a few feet then with an angry outburst he makes a the rush all teeth and eyes as if about to eat you up but finding that the big animal does nt scare he beats a retreat and sets himself up to on some overhanging branch every movement you make with ludicrous solemnity gathering courage he down the trunk again and and nervously up and down in curious you all tbe time as if showing and demanding your admiration finally growing calmer he settles down in a comfortable posture on some branch commanding a good view and beats time with his tail to a steady up up i or when somewhat less excited ah with the first syllable keenly and the second drawn out like the scream of a hawk repeating this slowly and more emphatically at first then gradually faster until a rate of about words a minute is reached usually sitting all the time on his with resting on his breast which visibly with each word it is remarkable too that though distinctly he keeps his mouth shut most of the time and speaks through his nose i have occasionally observed him even eating seeds and a troublesome track op once down and up a pine tree when showing to a spectator the mountains op without ceasing or in any way his ah ah v for a single moment while ascending trees all his claws come into play but in descending the weight of his body is sustained chiefly by those of the hind feet still in neither case do his movements suggest effort though if you are near enough you may see the strength of his short bear like arms and note his fists in the bark whether going up or down he carries his tail extended at full length in line with his body unless it be required for gestures but while running along limbs or fallen trunks it is frequently folded forward over the back with the airy tip in cool weather it keeps him warm then after he has finished his meal you may see him crouched close on some level limb with his tail robe neatly spread and reaching forward to his ears the electric hairs quivering in the breeze like pine needles but in wet or very cold weather he stays in his nest and while curled up there his is long enough to come forward around his nose it is seldom so cold however as to prevent his going out to his stores when hungry once as i lay storm bound on the upper edge of the timber line on mount the nearly at and the sky thick with driving snow a came bravely out several times from one of the lower hollows of a dwarf pine near my camp faced the wind without seeming to feel it much lightly about over the snow and dug his way down to some hidden seeds with wonder the fill precision as if to his eyes the thick were glass no other of the animals of my acquaintance is better fed not even the deer amid abundance of sweet and shrubs or the mountain sheep or bears his food consists of grass seeds nuts and the nuts and seeds of all the trees without exception pine fir and he is fond of them all and they all agree with him green or ripe no is too large for him to manage none so small as to be beneath his notice the smaller ones such as those of the and the and the two pine he cuts off and eats on a branch of the tree without allowing them to fall beginning at the bottom of the and cutting away the scales to expose the seeds not by guess like a bear but them round and round in regular order in compliance with their arrangement when thus employed his in the tree is betrayed by a of scales shells and and every few minutes by the fall of the stripped of the then of course he is ready for another and if you are watching you may catch a glimpse of him as he silently out to the end of a branch and see him examining the clusters until he finds one to his mind then leaning over pull back the needles out of his way grasp the with his to prevent its falling it off in an short time seize it with jaws stretched and the mountains of return to his chosen seat near the trunk but the immense size of the of the sugar pine from fifteen to twenty inches in length and those of the variety of the yellow pine compel him to adopt a quite different method he cuts them off without attempting to hold them then goes down and them from where they have chanced to fall up to the bare swelling ground around the of the tree where he them in the same way beginning at the bottom and following the scale to the top from a single sugar pine he gets from two to four hundred seeds about half the size of a so that in a few minutes he can procure enough to last a week he seems however to prefer those of the two silver first above all others perhaps because they are most easily obtained as the scales drop off when ripe without to be cut both species are filled with an exceedingly oil which all his flesh and is of itself sufficient to account for his lightning energy you may easily know this little | 28 |
workman by his on sunny around the principal trees they lie in big piles and the of them all fresh and clean making the most beautiful kitchen imaginable the brown and yellow scales and nut shells are as abundant and as delicately and tinted as the shells along the sea shore while the beautiful red and purple seed wings mingled with them would lead one to fancy that innumerable had there met their fate he on all the species long before they are ripe but is wise enough to wait until they are before he them into his this is in october and november which with him are the two months of the year all kinds of big and little are now cut off and down alike and the ground is speedily covered with them a constant and is kept up some of the larger to fall on old logs make the forest with the sound other nut less industrious know well what is going on and hasten to carry away the as they fall but however busy the may be he is not slow to the below and instantly leaves his work to drive them away the little striped is a thorn in his flesh stealing persistently punish him as he may the large gray gives trouble also although the has been accused of stealing from him generally however just the opposite is the case the excellence of the is well known to throughout the world consequently there is considerable demand for the seeds the greater portion of the supply has hitherto been procured by down the trees the mountains of in the more accessible sections of the forest alongside of bridle paths that cross the range seeds at first brought from twenty to thirty dollars per pound and therefore were eagerly sought after some of the smaller fruitful trees were cut down in the groves not protected by government especially those of and king s river most of the however are of so gigantic a size that the have to look for the greater portion of their supplies to the who soon he is no match for these he is wise enough however to cease working the instant he them and never fails to embrace every opportunity to recover his whenever they happen to be stored in any place accessible to him and the busy often finds on returning to camp that the little has spoiled the i know one seed who whenever he the wheat or beneath the trees as conscience money the want of life remarked by so many in the forests is never felt at this time of year banish all the humming insects and the birds and leaving only sir and the most solitary of our so called would still throb with ardent life but if you should go impatiently even into the most of the groves on purpose to meet him and walk about looking up among the branches you would see very little of him but lie down at the foot of one of the trees and straightway he will come for in the midst of the ordinary forest sounds the falling of of the the screaming of the crow and the rustling of deer and bears among the he is quick to detect your strange footsteps and will hasten to make a good close inspection of you as soon as you are still first you may hear him sounding a few notes of curious inquiry but more likely the first intimation of his approach will be the sounds of his feet as he the tree overhead just before he makes his savage to frighten you and proclaim your presence to every and bird in the neighborhood if you remain perfectly motionless he will come nearer and nearer and probably set your flesh a by across your body once while i was seated at the foot of a in one of the most inaccessible of the san engaged in a reckless fellow came up behind me passed under my arm and jumped on my paper and one warm afternoon while an old friend of mine was reading out in the shade of his cabin one of his neighbors jumped from the upon his head and then with admirable assurance ran down over his shoulder and on to the book he held in his hand our a large social circle for besides his numerous relatives t s he intimate relations with the nut eating birds particularly the crow and the numerous and the two are abundant in the and lower foot hills but more and more the mountains of distributed up through the seldom venturing higher than six or seven thousand feet above the level of the sea the gray but little higher than this the little striped alone is associated with him everywhere in the lower and middle where they all meet they are tolerably harmonious a happy family though very amusing may occasionally be witnessed wherever the ancient have spread forest soil there you find our hero most abundant where depth of soil and genial climate have given rise to a corresponding in the trees but following every kind of growth up the to the highest fountains though i cannot of course expect all my readers to fully in my admiration of this little animal few i hope will think this sketch of his life too long i cannot begin to tell here how much he has cheered my lonely wanderings during all the years i have been pursuing my studies in these glorious or how much unmistakable humanity i have found in him take this for example one calm indian summer morning when the nuts were ripe i was in the upper of the south fork of the san where the seemed to be about as plentiful as the ripe they were taking an early breakfast before going to their regular harvest work while i was | 28 |
busy with my own breakfast i heard the fall of two or three heavy from a yellow pine near me i stole noiselessly forward within about twenty feet of the base of it to ob the serve in a few moments down came the the breakfast he had cut off had rolled on the gently sloping ground into a of bushes but he seemed to know exactly where they were for he found them at once apparently without searching for them they were more than twice as heavy as himself but after turning them into the right position for getting a good hold with his long teeth he managed to drag them up to the foot of the tree from which he had cut them moving backward then himself comfortably he held them on end bottom up and them at his ease a good deal of had to be done before he got anything to eat because the lower scales are barren but when he had patiently worked his way up to the fertile ones he found two sweet nuts at the base of each shaped like trimmed and spotted purple like birds eggs and notwithstanding these were dripping with soft and covered with and so strongly put together that a boy would be puzzled to cut them open with a he accomplished his meal with easy dignity and cleanliness making less effort apparently than a man would in eating soft from a plate breakfast done i whistled a time for him before he went to work curious to see how he would be affected by it he had not seen me all this while but the instant i began to whistle he darted up the tree nearest to him and came out on a small dead limb opposite me and composed himself to listen i sang and whistled more than a dozen airs and as the music changed his eyes sparkled and the mountains op he turned his head quickly from side to side but made no other response other hearing the strange sounds came around on all sides also and birds one of the birds a handsome seemed even more interested than the after listening for awhile on one of the lower dead of a pine he came forward within a few feet of my face and remained fluttering in the air for half a minute or so himself with wing beats like a humming bird in front of a flower while i could look into his eyes and see his innocent wonder by this time my performance must have lasted nearly half an hour i sang or whistled o o er the water to woods o lee etc all of which seemed to be listened to with bright interest my first sitting patiently through it all with his telling eyes fixed upon me until i ventured to give the old when he screamed his indian name turned tail and darted with ludicrous haste up the tree out of sight his voice and actions in the case leaving a somewhat profane impression as if he had said i be hanged if you get me to hear anything so solemn and this acted as a signal for the general of the whole tribe though the birds seemed willing to wait further music being naturally more in their line what there can be in that grand old church tune that is so offensive to birds and i can t the imagine a year or two after this high concert i was sitting one fine day on a hill in the coast where the common ground were abundant they were very shy on account of being hunted so much but after i had been silent and motionless for half an hour or so they began to venture out of their holes and to feed on the seeds of the and around me as if i were no more to be feared than a tree stump then it occurred to me that this was a good opportunity to find out whether they also disliked old therefore i began to whistle as nearly as i could remember the same familiar airs that had pleased the of the they at once stopped eating stood erect and listened patiently until i came to old when with ludicrous haste every one of them rushed to their holes and bolted in their feet twinkling in the air for a moment as they vanished no one who makes the acquaintance of our will fail to admire him but he is far too and warlike ever to be taken for a darling how long the life of a may be i don t know the young seem to from knot holes perfect from the first and as enduring as their own trees it is difficult indeed to realize that so a piece of sun fire should ever become dim or die at all he is seldom killed by hunters for he is too small to encourage much of their attention and when pursued in settled regions becomes excessively shy and keeps close in the of the highest trunks many of which are of the same color as himself indian boys however the mountains of lie in wait with unbounded patience to shoot them with arrows in the lower and middle a few fall a prey to occasionally he is pursued by and etc but upon the whole he dwells safely in the deep bosom of the woods the most highly favored of all his happy tribe may his tribe increase chapter x a wind storm in the forests the mountain winds like the dew and rain sunshine and snow are measured and bestowed with love on the forests to develop their strength and beauty however the scope of other forest influences that of the winds is universal the snow and the upper forests every winter the lightning strikes a single tree here and there while down thousands at | 28 |
a as a gardener out a bed of flowers but the winds go to every tree every leaf and branch and not one is forgotten the mountain pine towering with outstretched arms on the rugged of the icy peaks the and most retiring tenant of the they seek and find them all caressing them tenderly bending them in exercise their growth off a leaf or limb as required or removing an entire tree or grove now whispering and through the branches like a sleepy child now roaring like the ocean the winds blessing the forests the forests the winds with beauty and harmony as the sure result after one has seen pines six feet in bending like before a mountain gale and a wind storm in the ever and anon some giant falling with a crash that shakes the hills it seems astonishing that any save the lowest trees could ever have found a period sufficiently to establish themselves or once established that they should not the mountains of sooner or later have been blown down but when the storm is over and we the same forests tranquil again towering fresh and in erect majesty and consider what centuries of storms have fallen upon them since they were first planted hail to break the tender lightning to and snow winds and to crush and while the manifest result of all this wild storm culture is the glorious perfection we behold then faith in nature s is established and we cease to the violence of her most destructive or of any other storm whatsoever there are two trees in the forests that are never blown down so long as they continue in sound health these are the and the dwarf pine of the summit peaks their stiff crooked roots grip the storm beaten like claws while their cord like branches bend round offering but slight holds for winds however violent the other the needle pine mountain pine two pine and are never out by this agent to any destructive extent on account of their admirable and the of their growth in general the same is true of the giants of the lower the sugar pine towering aloft to a height of more than feet offers a fine mark to storm winds but it is not and its long arms swing round in the blast like of green in a brook while the silver in most places keep their ranks well together a wind storm in the forests in united strength the yellow or silver pine is more frequently than any other tree on the because its leaves and branches form a larger mass in proportion to its height while in many places it is planted leaving open lanes through which storms may enter with full force because it is distributed along the lower portion of the range which was the first to be left bare on the breaking up of the ice sheet at the close of the winter the soil it is growing upon has been longer exposed to post and consequently is in a more crumbling decayed condition than the farther up the range and therefore offers a less secure for the roots while exploring the forest of mount i discovered the path of a strewn with thousands of pines of this species great and small had been or off by sheer force making a clean gap like that made by a snow but capable of doing this class of work are rare in the and when we have the forests from one extremity of the range to the other we are compelled to believe that they are the most beautiful on the face of the earth however we may regard the agents that have made them so there is always something deeply exciting not only in the sounds of winds in the woods which exert more or less influence over every mind but in their varied flow as manifested by the movements of the trees especially those of the by no other trees are they rendered so the mountains of and visible not even by the palms or tree to the breeze the waving of a forest of the giant is impressive and sublime but the pines seem to me the best of winds they are mighty waving ever in tune singing and writing wind music au their long century lives little however of this noble tree waving and tree music will you see or hear in the strictly portion of the forests the whose sometimes more than equals its height is about as rigid as the rocks on which it grows the slender lash like of the dwarf pine stream out in wavering but the and are far too to wave even in the heaviest they only shake in quick short the however and the mountain pine and some of the of the two species bow in storms with considerable scope and but it is only in the lower and middle that the meeting of winds and woods is to be seen in all its grandeur one of the most beautiful and storms i ever enjoyed in the occurred in december when i happened to be exploring one of the valleys of the the sky and the ground and the trees had been thoroughly rain washed and were dry again the day was intensely pure one of those bits of winter warm and and full of white sparkling sunshine of all the purest influences of the spring and at the same time en a wind storm in the forests with one of the most wind storms conceivable instead of out as i usually do i then chanced to be stopping at the house of a friend but when the storm began to sound i lost no time in pushing out into the woods to enjoy it for on such occasions nature has always something rare to show us and the danger to life | 28 |
and limb is hardly greater than one would experience crouching beneath a roof it was still early morning when i found myself fairly adrift delicious sunshine came pouring over the hills lighting the tops of the pines and setting free a steam of fragrance that contrasted strangely with the wild tones of the storm the air was with pine and bright green that went flashing past in the sunlight like birds pursued but there was not the slightest nothing less pure than leaves and ripe and of withered and moss i heard trees falling for hours at the rate of one every two or three minutes some partly on account of the loose water soaked condition of the ground others broken straight across where some weakness caused by fire had determined the spot the gestures of the various trees made a delightful study young sugar pines light and as tails were bowing almost to the ground while the grand old whose massive had been tried in a hundred storms waved solemnly above them their long branches streaming on the gale and every needle thrilling and ringing and shedding off keen of light like a the mountains of the with long drawn out in level and needles in a gray glow presented a most striking appearance as they stood in bold relief along the the in the with their red bark and large glossy leaves every way reflected the sunshine in throbbing like those one so often sees on the surface of a lake but the silver pines were now the most beautiful of all colossal feet in height waved like and bowing low as if in worship while the whole mass of their long tremulous foliage was kindled into one continuous blaze of white sun fire the force of the gale was such that the most steadfast monarch of them all rocked down to its roots with a motion plainly perceptible when one leaned against it nature was holding high festival and every of the most rigid giants thrilled with glad excitement i drifted on through the midst of this passionate music and motion across many a from ridge to ridge often halting in the lee of a rock for shelter or to gaze and listen even when the grand had swelled to its highest pitch i could distinctly hear the varying tones of individual trees and fir and pine and oak and even the infinitely gentle rustle of the withered at my feet each was expressing itself in its own way singing its own song and making its own peculiar gestures a richness of variety to be found in no other forest i have yet seen the woods of canada a wind in the and the and are made up of trees that resemble one another about as nearly as blades of grass and grow close together in much the same way trees in general seldom possess individual character such as is manifest among oaks and elms but the forests are made up of a greater number of distinct species than any other in the world and in them we find not only a marked into special groups but also a marked individuality in almost every tree giving rise to storm effects glorious toward midday after a long scramble through of and i gained the summit of the highest ridge in the neighborhood and then it occurred to me that it would be a fine thing to climb one of the trees to obtain a wider outlook and get my ear close to the music of its needles but under the circumstances the choice of a tree was a serious matter one whose was not very strong seemed in danger of being blown down or of being struck by others in case they should fall another was to a considerable height above the ground and at the same time too large to be grasped with arms and legs in climbing while others were not situated for clear views after cautiously casting about i made choice of the of a group of that were growing close together like a of grass no one of which seemed likely to fall unless all the rest fell with it though comparatively young they were about feet high and their the mountains op tops were rocking and in wild ecstasy being accustomed to climb trees in making studies i experienced no difficulty in reaching the top of this one and never before did i enjoy so noble an of motion the slender tops fairly and in the passionate torrent bending and backward and forward round and round tracing indescribable of and curves while i clung with muscles firm like a on a reed in its sweeps my tree top described an arc of from twenty to thirty degrees but i felt sure of its elastic temper having seen others of the same species still more severely tried bent almost to the ground indeed in heavy without breaking a i was therefore safe and free to take the wind into my and enjoy the excited forest from my superb outlook the view from here must be extremely beautiful in any weather now my eye over the hills and as over fields of waving grain and felt the light running in and broad swelling across the valleys from ridge to ridge as the shining foliage was stirred by corresponding waves of air these waves of reflected light would break up suddenly into a kind of beaten foam and again after chasing one another in regular order they would seem to bend forward in curves and disappear on some like sea waves on a shore the quantity of light reflected from the bent needles was so great as to make whole groves appear as if a wind storm in the forests covered with snow while the black shadows beneath the trees greatly the effect of the silvery splendor excepting only the shadows | 28 |
there was nothing in all this wild sea of pines on the contrary notwithstanding this was the winter season the colors were remarkably beautiful the shafts of the pine and were brown and purple and most of the foliage was well tinged with yellow the laurel groves with the pale of their leaves turned upward made masses of gray and then there was many a dash of color from of and jet of vivid crimson from the bark of the while the ground on the appearing here and there through between the groves displayed masses of pale purple and brown the sounds of the storm with this wild of light and motion the profound bass of the naked branches and like the quick tense of the pine needles now rising to a shrill whistling hiss now falling to a murmur the rustling of laurel groves in the and the keen click of leaf on leaf all this was heard in easy analysis when the attention was calmly bent the varied gestures of the multitude were seen to fine advantage so that one could recognize the different species at a distance of several miles by this means alone as well as by their forms and colors and the way they reflected the light all seemed strong and comfortable as if really enjoy the mountains of ing the storm while to its most enthusiastic greetings we hear much nowadays concerning the universal struggle for existence but no struggle in the common meaning of the word was manifest here no recognition of danger by any tree no but rather an invincible gladness as remote from exultation as from fear i kept my lofty perch for hours frequently closing my eyes to enjoy the music by itself or to feast quietly on the delicious fragrance that was streaming past the fragrance of the woods was less marked than that produced during warm rain when so many and leaves are like tea but from the of branches against each other and the incessant of of needles the gale was to a very degree and besides the fragrance from these local sources there were traces of brought from afar for this wind came first from the sea rubbing against its fresh waves then through the rich and spreading itself in broad currents over many a flower ridge of the coast mountains then across the golden plains up the purple foot hills and into these woods with the varied incense gathered by the way winds are of all they touch however much or little we may be able to read them telling their wanderings even by their alone detect the perfume of land winds far at sea and sea winds carry the fragrance of and far inland where it is a wind storm in the forests quickly recognized though mingled with the of a thousand land flowers as an illustration of this i may tell here that i breathed sea air on the of forth in scotland while a boy then was taken to where i remained nineteen years then without in au this time having breathed one breath of the sea i walked quietly alone from the middle of the valley to the gulf of on a excursion and while in far from the coast my attention wholly bent on the splendid tropical vegetation about me i suddenly recognized a as it came through the and blooming vine which at once awakened and set free a thousand associations and made me a boy again in scotland as if all the intervening years had been most people like to look at mountain rivers and bear them in mind but few care to look at the winds though far more beautiful and sublime and though they become at times about as visible as flowing water when the north winds in winter are making upward sweeps over the of the high the fact is sometimes published with flying snow a mile long those portions of the winds thus embodied can scarce be wholly invisible even to the darkest imagination and when we look around over an agitated forest we may see something of the wind that it by its effects upon the trees yonder it in a rush of water like and sweeps over the bending pines from hill to hill nearer we see detached and leaves now by on the mountains op level currents now whirling in or escaping over the edges of the soaring aloft on grand of air or tossing on flame like smooth deep currents falls and sing around every tree and leaf and over all the varied of the region with telling changes of form like mountain rivers to the features of their channels after tracing the streams from their fountains to the plains marking where they bloom white in falls glide in crystal gray and foam filled in choked and slip through the woods in long tranquil reaches after thus learning their language and forms in detail we may at length hear them all together in one grand and comprehend them all in clear inner vision covering the range like lace but even this spectacle is far less sublime and not a whit more substantial than what we may behold of these storm streams of air in the mountain woods we all travel the way together trees and men but it never occurred to me until this while swinging in the wind that trees are in the ordinary sense they make many journeys not extensive ones it is true but our own little journeys away and back again are only little more than tree many of them not so much when the storm began to i dismounted and sauntered down through the woods the storm tones died away and turning toward the east i beheld the countless hosts of the forests hushed and tranquil towering above one another a wind in the forests on the slopes of the hills like | 28 |
together with a high front on the open plain with a violence and suddenness that at first seem wholly unaccountable the of the lower portion of this particular flood was somewhat by the mountains of gravel in the river channels and by which gave way after having at first restrained and held back the waters these conditions did not however greatly influence the general result the main effect having been caused by the rare combination of flood indicated above it is a pity that but few people meet and enjoy storms so noble as this in their homes in the mountains for spending themselves in the open of the plains they are likely to be remembered more by the bridges and houses they carry away than by their beauty or the thousand blessings they bring to the fields and gardens of nature on the morning of the flood january th all the feather and were covered with running water muddy torrents filled every and and the sky was thick with rain the pines had long been sleeping in sunshine they were now awake roaring and waving with the beating storm and the winds sweeping along the curves of hill and streaming through the woods and on the tops of rocky made the wildest of wild storm melody it was easy to see that only a small part of the rain reached the ground in the form of drops most of it was into dusty spray like that into which small are divided when they dash on rocks never have i seen water coming from the sky in or more passionate streams the wind chased the spray forward in choking and compelled me again and again to seek shelter in the and back of large trees to rest and catch my breath wherever i the river floods went on or in hollows enthusiastic water still flashed and about my ankles recalling a wild winter flood in when a hundred came and together and filled the grand valley with a sea like roar after drifting an hour or two in the lower woods i set out for the summit of a hill feet high with a view to getting as near the heart of the storm as possible in order to reach it i had to cross dry creek a of the that goes crawling along the base of the hill on the it was now a river as large as the at ordinary stages its current brown with washed down from many a claim and with boxes fence rails and logs that had long lain above its reach a slim foot bridge stretched across it now scarcely above the swollen current here i was glad to linger gazing and listening while the storm was in its richest mood the gray rain flood above the brown river flood beneath the language of the river was scarcely less than that of the wind and rain the sublime of the main current the and of the the keen dash and clash of heavy waves breaking against rocks and the smooth hush of shallow currents feeling their way through the willow of the margin and amid all this varied throng of sounds i heard the smothered and of on the bottom as they were and rolling forward against one another in a wild rush after having lain still for probably years or more the mountains of the glad creek rose high above its banks and wandered from its channel out over many a sand flat and meadow and were bearing up against the current with nervous trembling gestures as if afraid of being carried away while branches bending dipped lightly and rose again as if the wild waters in play leaving the bridge and passing on through the storm woods all the ground seemed to be moving pine of bark soil leaves and broken branches were being swept forward and many a rock fragment from exposed was now receiving its first and in the wild streams of the storm on they rushed through every and hollow leaping gliding working with a will and rejoicing like living creatures nor was the flood confined to the ground every tree had a water system of its own spreading far and wide like miniature and toward midday cloud wind and rain reached their highest development the storm was in full bloom and formed from my commanding outlook on the one of the most glorious views i ever beheld as far as the eye could reach above beneath around wind driven rain filled the air like one vast detached clouds swept up the valley as if they were endowed with independent motion and had special work to do in the mountain wells now rising above the pine tops now descending into their midst their and soothing every branch and leaf with gentleness in the midst of all the river floods the savage sound and motion others keeping near the ground glided behind separate groves and brought them forward into relief with admirable distinctness or passing in front whole groves in succession pine after pine melting in their gray and bursting forth again seemingly clearer than before the forms of storms are in great part measured and controlled by the of the regions where they rise and over which they pass when therefore we attempt to study them from the valleys or from and of the forest we are confounded by a multitude of separate and apparently impressions the bottom of the storm is broken up into innumerable waves and currents that against the like sea waves against a shore and these on the surface of the storm immense hollows and and sweep forward the in long trains like the of but as we ascend these partial effects disappear and the phenomena are beheld united and harmonious the longer i gazed into the storm the more plainly visible it became the drifting cloud gave it a kind of visible body | 28 |
which explained many phenomena and published its movements in plain terms while the texture of the falling mass of rain rounded it out and rendered it more complete because differ in size they fall at different and overtake and clash against one another producing mist and spray they also of course yield unequal the mountains of compliance to the force of the wind which gives rise to a still greater degree of interference and passionate sweep off clouds of spray from the groves like that torn from wave tops in a gale all these of in color and texture of the general rain mass tend to make it the more and telling it is then seen as one grand flood rushing over bank and bending the pines like weeds this way and that whirling in huge in hollows and while the main current over all like ocean currents over the that lie hidden at the bottom of the sea i watched the gestures of the pines while the storm was at its height and it was easy to see that they were not distressed several large sugar pines stood near the thicket in which i was sheltered bowing solemnly and tossing their long arms as if the very words of the storm while accepting its wildest with passionate the lions were feeding those who have observed on sunshine during the golden days of indian summer know that none of their gestures express their celestial food is too heartily given too heartily taken to leave room for thanks the pines were evidently accepting the of the storm in the same whole manner and when i looked down among the and still lower to the young and on the rocks i noticed the same divine methods of giving and taking and the same exquisite of what seems an outbreak of violent and the floods force to the purposes of beautiful and delicate life like sleep come upon just as they do on people and trees and storms awaken them in the same way in the dry of the lower portion of the range the withered hills and valleys seem to lie as empty and as dead shells on a shore even the highest mountains may be found occasionally dull and as if in some way they had lost countenance and shrunk to less than half their real stature but when the crash and echo in the and the clouds come down and crowning their bald snowy heads every feature beams with expression and they rise again in all their imposing majesty storms are fine and tell all they know but their voices of lightning torrent and rushing wind are much less numerous than the nameless still small voices too low for human ears and because we are poor listeners we fail to catch much that is fairly within reach our best rains are heard mostly on roofs and winds in chimneys and when by choice or we are pushed into the heart of a storm the confusion made by and nervous haste and mean fear prevent our hearing any other than the expressions yet we may draw enjoyment from storm sounds that are beyond hearing and storm movements we cannot see the sublime whirl of around their is as silent as in the dark among the roots of plants in this great storm as in every other there were tones and gestures the mountains op gentle manifested in the midst of what is called violence and fury but easily recognized by all who look and listen for them the rain brought out the colors of the woods with delightful freshness the rich brown of the bark of the trees and the fallen and leaves and dead the of rocks and the light purple of swelling and the warm yellow of the and the air was steaming with delightful fragrance not rising and past in separate masses but diffused through all the atmosphere pine woods are always fragrant but most so in spring when the young are opening and in warm weather when the various and are softened by the sun the wind was now their innumerable needles and the warm rain was them grows here in large beds in the and there is plenty of laurel in and on the and the rosy fragrant carpets the ground almost everywhere these with the and of the woods form the main local fragrance fountains of the storm the ascending clouds of wind rolled and rain washed became pure like light and with the wind as part of it toward the middle of the afternoon the main flood cloud lifted along its western border revealing a beautiful section of the valley some twenty or thirty miles away brilliantly sun lighted and with rain sheets as if paved with silver soon afterward a jagged bluff like cloud with a sheer face appeared over the valley of the dark colored and with numerous the river floods like some huge table the blue coast range was seen stretching along the sky like a wall and the rose out of the plain like islands out of the sea then the rain began to and i sauntered down through the dripping bushes in the universal vigor and freshness that inspired all the life about me how clean and and immortal the woods seemed to be the lofty in full bloom laden with golden and their washed shining the pines rocking gently and settling back into rest and the evening on the broad leaves of the their of yellow boughs relieved against dusky of chestnut oak were in glorious revival and every moss that had ever lived seemed to be coming crowding back from the dead to clothe each trunk and stone in living green the steaming ground seemed fairly to throb and with life and young were pushing up as if already conscious of the summer glory and innumerable green and yellow were peeping and smiling everywhere | 28 |
as for the birds and not a wing or tail of them was to be seen while the storm was blowing dislike wet weather more than cats do therefore they were at home rocking in their dry nests the birds were hiding in the out of the wind some of the strongest of them at and but most were perched on low twigs their breast feathers puffed the mountains op out and keeping one another company through the hard time as best they could when i arrived at the village about the good people themselves pitying my condition as if i were some snatched from the sea while i in turn warm with excitement and like the ground pitied them for being dry and of all the glory that nature had spread round about them that day chapter xii thunder storms the weather of spring and summer in the middle region of the is usually well with rains and light of snow most of which are far too obviously joyful and life giving to be regarded as storms and in the picturesque beauty and clearness of outlines of their clouds they offer striking to those boundless cloud of the storms of winter the smallest and most perfectly specimens present a richly cloud rising above the dark woods about a m swelling with a visible motion straight up into the calm sunny sky to a height of to feet above the sea its white relieved by gray and pale purple shadows in the hollows and showing outlines as keenly defined as those of the polished in less than an hour it full development and stands poised in the blazing sunshine like some colossal mountain as beautiful in form and finish as if it were to become a permanent addition to the landscape presently a through the crisp air ringing like steel on steel sharp and clear its startling breaking into a spray of echoes against the mountains of the cliffs and walls then down comes a of rain the big drops through the pine needles and on the granite and pour down the sides of and in a of gray in a few minutes the cloud to a of dim and leaving the sky perfectly clear and bright every dust wiped and washed out of it everything is refreshed and a steam of fragrance rises and the storm is finished one cloud one lightning stroke and one dash of rain this is the thunder storm reduced to its lowest terms but some of them attain much larger proportions and assume a grandeur and energy of expression hardly surpassed by those bred in the depths of winter producing those sudden floods called cloud bursts which are local and to a considerable extent for they appear nearly every day about the same time for weeks usually about eleven o clock and lasting from five minutes to an hour or two one soon becomes so accustomed to see them that the noon sky seems empty and abandoned without them as if nature were forgetting something when the glorious pearl and clouds of these storms are being built i never give attention to anything else no mountain or mountain range however clothed with light has a more enduring charm than those fleeting mountains of the sky floating fountains bearing water for every well the angels of the streams and lakes brooding in the deep or sweeping softly along the ground over ridge and thunder storms dome over meadow over forest over garden and grove lingering with shadows refreshing every flower and soothing rugged rock brows with a gentleness of touch and gesture wholly divine the most beautiful and imposing of the summer storms rise just above the upper edge of the silver fir and all are so beautiful that it is not easy to choose any one for particular description the one that i remember best fell on the mountains near valley july while i was in the silver fir woods a range of took possession of the sky huge and peaks rising one beyond another with deep between them bending this way and that in long curves and reaches interrupted here and there with white masses that looked like the spray of of lightning followed each other in quick succession and the thunder was so loud and massive it seemed as if surely an entire mountain was being shattered at every stroke only the trees were touched however so far as i could see a few feet high perhaps and five to six feet in were split into long rails and from top to bottom and scattered to all points of the compass then came the rain in a hearty flood covering the ground and making it shine with a continuous sheet of water that like a transparent or skin fitted closely down over all the rugged of the landscape it is not long speaking since the first fell on the present of the and in the few of thousands of years the mountains of of stormy cultivation they have been with how beautiful they have become the first rains on raw crumbling and rocks without a plant now scarcely a drop can fail to find a beautiful mark on the tops of the peaks on the smooth on the curves of the on full of on the thousand forms of with their tender beauty of vegetation some falling softly on meadows creeping out of sight seeking and finding every thirsty some through the of the woods in dust through the needles and whispering good cheer to each of them some falling with blunt tapping sounds on the broad leaves of some falling straight into fragrant kissing the lips of lilies on the sides of on shining of gold some falling into the fountains of snow to swell their well saved stores some into the lakes and rivers patting the smooth making and bells and spray washing the mountain windows washing | 28 |
the wandering winds some into the heart of snowy falls and as if eager to join in the dance and the song and beat the foam yet finer good work and happy work for the merry mountain each one of them a brave fall in itself rushing from the cliffs and hollows of the clouds into the cliffs and hollows of the mountains away from the thunder of the sky into the thunder of the roaring rivers and how far they have to go and how many cups thunder storms to fill cups holding half a drop and lake between the hills each with equal care every drop god s messenger sent on its way with glorious pomp and display of new born stars with lake and river mountain and valley all that the landscape holds reflected in their crystal depths chapter the the of the are frequented one bird the or water he is a singularly joyous and little fellow about the size of a robin clad in a plain suit of gray with a tinge of on the head and shoulders in form he is about as smoothly plump and compact as a that has been whirled in a pot hole the flowing of his body being interrupted only by his strong feet and bill the crisp wing tips and the up like tail among all the countless i have met in the course of ten years in the whether among the icy peaks or warm foot hills or in the profound of the middle region not one was found without its no is too cold for this little bird none too lonely provided it be rich in falling water find a fall or or rushing rapid anywhere upon a clear stream and there you will surely find its flitting about in the spray in foaming whirling like a leaf among beaten foam bells ever vigorous and enthusiastic yet and neither seeking nor your company the water i and feeding if disturbed while dipping about in the margin he either sets off with a rapid to some other feeding ground up or down the stream or on some half rock or out in the current and immediately begins to nod and courtesy like a turning his head from bide to side with many other odd dainty move the mountains op ments that never fail to fix the attention of the observer he is the mountain streams own darling the humming bird of blooming waters loving rocky ripple slopes and sheets of foam as a bee loves flowers as a lark loves sunshine and meadows among all the mountain birds none has cheered me so much in my lonely wanderings none so for both in winter and summer he sings sweetly cheerily independent alike of and of love re no other inspiration than the stream on which he dwells while water sings so must he in heat or cold calm or storm ever his voice in sure accord low in the of summer and the of winter but never silent during the golden days of indian summer after most of the snow has been melted and the mountain streams have become feeble a succession of silent pools linked together by shallow transparent currents and of silvery then the song of the is at its lowest ebb but as soon as the winter clouds have and the mountain are once more with snow the voices of the streams and increase in strength and richness until the flood season of early summer then the torrents chant their noblest and then is the flood time of our s melody as for weather dark days and sun days are the same to him the voices of most song birds however joyous suffer a long winter but the sings on through all the seasons and every kind of storm indeed no storm the can be more violent than those of the in the midst of which he delights to dwell however dark and boisterous the weather blowing or cloudy all the same he sings and with never a note of sadness no need of spring sunshine to his song for it never never shall you hear anything wintry from his warm breast no pinched no wavering notes between sorrow and joy his mellow voice is ever to downright gladness as free from as cock it is pitiful to see frost pinched on cold mornings in the mountain groves shaking the snow from their feathers and about as if anxious to be cheery then hastening back to their out of the wind puffing out their breast feathers over their toes and among the leaves cold and while the snow continues to fall and there is no sign of clearing but the never calls forth a single touch of pity not because he is strong to endure but rather because he seems to live a charmed life beyond the reach of every influence that makes endurance necessary one wild winter morning when was swept its length from west to east by a cordial snow storm i forth to see what i might learn and enjoy a sort of gray like darkness filled the valley the huge walls were out of sight all ordinary sounds were smothered and even the of the falls was at times buried beneath the roar of the heavy laden blast the loose snow was already over five feet deep on the mountains op the meadows making extended walks impossible without the aid of snow shoes i found no great difficulty however in making my way to a certain ripple on the river where one of my lived he was at home busily his breakfast among the pebbles of a shallow portion of the margin apparently unaware of anything extraordinary in the weather presently he flew out to a stone against which the icy current was beating and turning his back to the wind sang as | 28 |
the stream banks are in snow and the streams themselves are chilled nearly to the point so that the snow falling into them in stormy weather is not wholly dissolved but forms a thin blue thus rendering the current then he seeks the deeper portions of the main rivers where he may to clear water beneath the or he to some open lake or at the bottom of which he in safety when thus compelled to himself to a lake he does not plunge into it at once like a duck but always in the first place upon some rock or fallen pine along the shore then flying out thirty or forty yards more or less according to the character of the bottom he with a dainty on the surface about looks down finally makes up his mind and with a sharp stroke of his wings after feeding for two or three minutes he suddenly showers the water from his wings with one vigorous shake and rises abruptly into the air as if pushed up from beneath comes back to his perch sings a few minutes and goes out to again thus coming and going singing and at the same place for hours the is usually found singly rarely in the water mirror nay camp chanced to be within a few feet of the water s edge opposite a fallen pine some of the branches of which leaned out over the lake here the mountains op my three dearly welcome visitors took up their station and at once began to the frosty air with their delicious melody doubly delightful to me that particular morning as i had been somewhat apprehensive of danger in breaking my way down through the snow choked to the the portion of the lake bottom selected for a feeding ground lies at a depth of fifteen or twenty feet below the surface and is covered with a short growth of and other plants facts i had previously determined while sailing over it on a after on the surface they occasionally indulged in a little play chasing one another round about in small circles then all three would suddenly together and then come ashore and sing the seldom more than a few yards on the surface for not being web footed he makes rather slow progress but by means of his strong crisp wings he or rather flies with under the surface often to considerable distances but it is in the force of heavy that his strength of wing in this respect is most strikingly manifested the following may be regarded as a fair illustration of his power of sub flight one stormy morning in winter when the river was blue and green with snow i observed one of my perched on a out in the midst of a swift rushing rapid singing cheerily as if everything was just to his mind and while i stood on the bank admiring him he suddenly plunged into the current the water leaving his song abruptly broken off after feeding a minute or two at the bottom and when one would suppose that he must inevitably be swept far down stream he emerged just where he went down alighted t the v his feathers ai unfinished son tranquil ease as no interruption the a dares to enter and though si in structure no related t the duck or the or the stormy go ashore as soon as they finish feeding in undisturbed places and very flights from entering a white current field to field the same is true of most other birds but the born on the brink of a stream or on a or in the midst of it seldom leaves the mountains of it for a single moment for notwithstanding he is often on the wing he never flies but with rapid like beat above the stream tracing all its even when the stream is quite small say from five to ten feet wide he seldom his flight by crossing a bend however abrupt it may be and even when disturbed by meeting some one on the bank he prefers to fly over one s head to out over the ground when therefore his flight along a crooked stream is viewed it appears most strikingly a description on the air of every curve with lightning like rapidity the curves and angles of the most torrents he traces with the same rigid fidelity down the of dropping sheer over dizzy falls amid the spray and ascending with the same and ease seldom seeking to lessen the of the by beginning to ascend before reaching the base of the fall no matter though it may be several hundred feet in height he holds straight on as if about to dash headlong into the throng of then abruptly upward and after at the top of the precipice to rest a moment proceeds to feed and sing his flight is solid and impetuous without any of wing beats one like that of a laden bee on its way home and while thus freely from fall to fall he is frequently heard giving utterance to a long train of notes in no way connected with his song but corresponding closely with his flight in sustained vigor the were the flights of all the in the traced on a they would indicate the direction of the flow of the entire system of ancient from about the period of the breaking up of the ice sheet until near the close of the winter because the streams which the so rigidly follow are with the unimportant exceptions of a few side all flowing in channels for them out of the solid flank of the range by the vanished the streams tracing the ancient the tracing the streams nor do we find so complete compliance to conditions in the life of any other mountain bird or animal of any kind bears frequently accept | 28 |
the laid down by as the easiest to travel but they often leave them and cross over from to so also most of the birds trace the to some extent because the forests are growing on them but they wander far crossing the from grove to grove and draw exceedingly and complicated courses the s nest is one of the most extraordinary pieces of bird architecture i ever saw odd and novel in design perfectly fresh and beautiful and in every way worthy of the genius of the little it is about a foot in round and in outline with a neatly arched opening near the bottom somewhat like an old fashioned brick oven or s hut it is built almost exclusively of green and yellow chiefly the beautiful that covers the rocks and old drift logs in the vicinity of these are and together the mountains of into a charming little hut and so situated that many of the outer continue to flourish as if they had not been plucked a few fine are occasionally found with the but with the exception of a thin the floor their presence seems accidental as they are of a species found growing with the and are probably plucked with them the site chosen for this curious mansion is usually some little rock shelf within reach of the lighter of the spray of a so that its walls are kept green and growing at least during the time of high water no harsh lines are presented by any portion of the nest as seen in place but when removed from its shelf the back and bottom and sometimes a portion of the top is found quite sharply because it is made to to the surface of the rock upon which and against which it is built the little always taking advantage of slight and that may chance to offer to render his structure stable by means of a kind of and in choosing a building spot concealment does not seem to be taken into consideration yet notwithstanding the nest is large and exposed to view it is far from being easily detected chiefly because it forward like any other moss cushion growing naturally in such situations this is more especially the case where the nest is kept fresh by being well sprinkled sometimes these romantic little huts have their beauty by rock and that the spring up around the walls or in front of the door sill dripping with crystal beads at certain hours of the day when the sunshine is poured down at the required angle the whole mass of the spray the fairy establishment is brilliantly and it is through so glorious a rainbow atmosphere as this that some of our blessed obtain their first peep at the world seem so completely part and parcel of the streams they they scarce suggest any other origin than the streams themselves and one might almost be in they come direct from the living waters like flowers from the ground at least from whatever cause it never occurred to me to look for their nests until more than a year after i had made the acquaintance of the birds themselves although i found one the very day on which i began the search in making my way from to the at the heads of the and rivers i in a particularly wild and romantic portion of the where in previous excursions i had never failed to enjoy the company of my who were attracted here no doubt by the safe places in the rocks and by the abundance of food and falling water the river for miles above and below consists of a succession of small falls from ten to sixty feet in height connected by flat like that go flashing from fall to fall free and almost over waving folds of polished granite on the south side of one of the falls that portion of the precipice which is bathed by the spray the mountains of presents a series of little shelves and caused by the development of of in the granite and by the consequent fall of masses through the action of the water now here said i of all places is the most charming spot for an s nest then carefully the fretted face of the precipice through the spray i at length noticed a moss cushion growing on the edge of a level within five or six feet of the outer folds of the fall but apart from the fact of its being situated where one acquainted with the lives of would fancy an s nest ought to be there was nothing in its appearance visible at first sight to distinguish it from other of rock moss situated with reference to spray aid it was not until i had it again and again and had removed my shoes and stockings and crept along the face of the rock within eight or ten feet of it that i could decide certainly whether it was a nest or a natural growth in these moss huts three or four eggs are laid white like foam and well may the little birds from them sing water songs for they hear them all their lives and even before they are born i have often observed the young just out of the nest making their odd gestures and seeming in every way as much at home as their experienced parents like young bees on their first excursions to the flower fields no amount of familiarity with people and their ways seems to change them in the least to all appearance their behavior is just the the same on seeing a man for the first time as when they have seen him frequently on the lower reaches of the rivers where mills occasion while a the at h mb wood was at work on the river bank i observed one cheerily singing within reach of the flying | 28 |
in the midst of a sunny the species is distributed all along the of the pacific coast from to and east to the rocky mountains nevertheless it is as yet comparatively little known and did not meet it was i believe the first to describe a specimen from specimens were shortly afterward procured by near the sources of the between the fifty fourth and fifty sixth and it has been collected by nearly all of the numerous exploring undertaken of late through our western states and the water for it never fails to engage the attention of in a very particular manner such then is our little beloved of every one who is so fortunate as to know him tracing on strong wing every curve of the most torrents from one extremity of the to the other not fearing to follow them through their darkest and snow acquainted with every echoing their divine music and throughout the whole of their beautiful lives all that we in our call terrible in the of torrents and storms as only varied expressions of god s eternal love chapter xiv the wild sheep the wild sheep ranks highest among the animal of the possessed of keen sight and scent and strong limbs he dwells secure amid the leaping from to up and down the fronts of giddy crossing foaming torrents and slopes of frozen snow exposed to the wildest storms yet maintaining a brave warm life and developing from generation to generation in perfect strength and beauty nearly all the lofty mountain chains of the globe are inhabited by wild sheep most of which on account of the remote and all but inaccessible regions where they dwell are imperfectly known as yet they are by different under from five to ten distinct species or varieties the best known being the of the the the large wild sheep of central and asia or the the of the mountains of northern africa and the rocky mountain the wild sheep to this last named species belongs the wild sheep of the its range according to the late professor of the institution extends from the region of the upper and to the mountains and the high grounds adjacent to them on the eastern slope and as far south as the westward it extends to the coast of washington and and follows the some distance into throughout the vast region bounded on the east by the mountains and on the west by the there are more than a hundred subordinate and mountain groups north and south range beyond range with rising from eight to twelve thousand feet above the level of the sea probably all of which according to my own observations is or has been inhabited by this species compared with the which considering its size and the vast extent of its range is probably the most important of all the wild sheep our species is about the same size but the horns are less twisted and less the more important characteristics are however essentially the same some of the best maintaining that the two are only varied forms of one species in accordance with this view conjectures that since central asia seems to be the region where the sheep first appeared and from which it has been distributed the may have been distributed over this continent from asia by crossing strait on ice this conjecture is not so ill i pacific railroad survey vol page the mountains of founded as at first sight would appear for the strait is only about fifty miles wide is interrupted by three islands and is with ice nearly every winter the is abundant on the mountains adjacent to the strait at east cape where it is well known to the hunters and where i have seen many of their horns on account of the extreme of the sheep under culture it is generally supposed that the innumerable domestic have all been derived from the few wild species but the whole question is involved in obscurity according to sheep have been from a very ancient period the remains of a small breed from any now known having been found in the famous lake dwellings compared with the best known domestic we find that our wild species is much larger and instead of an all wool garment wears a thick overcoat of hair hke that of the deer and an of fine wool the hair though rather coarse is comfortably soft and and lies smooth as if carefully tended with comb and brush the color during most of file year is gray varying to gray in the autumn the belly and a large conspicuous patch on the are white and the tail which is very short like that of a deer is black with a border the wool is white and grows in beautiful down out of sight among the shining hair like delicate climbing vines among of corn the horns of the male are of immense size the wild sheep in their greater from five to six and a half inches and from two and a half to three feet in length around the curve they are white in color and like those of the domestic ram their cross section near the base is somewhat in outline and toward the tip boldly from the top of the head they curve gently backward and outward then forward and outward until about three of a circle is described and until the blunt tips are about two feet or two and a half feet apart those of the female are throughout their entire length are less curved than those of the male and much smaller measuring less than a foot along the curve a ram and that i obtained near the beds to the of mount measured as follows bam ft in ft in height at shoulders around shoulders f length from nose to root of tail j i length of ears f length | 28 |
no song birds no deer no no game of any kind they say but if such could only go away quietly into the wilderness and alone with natural deliberation they would soon learn that these mountain are not without inhabitants many of whom confiding and gentle would not try to their acquaintance in the fall of i was tracing the south fork of the san up its wild to its farthest fountains it was the season of indian summer the sun beamed lovingly the were in the pine trees hovered about the last of the the willow and were yellow the meadows brown and the whole sunny mellow landscape glowed like a countenance in the deepest and sweetest repose on my way over the polished rocks along the river i came to an expanded portion of the about two miles long and half a mile wide which formed a level park with picturesque granite walls like those of valley down through the middle of it the wild sheep poured the beautiful river shining and in the golden light yellow groves on its banks and of brown meadow while the whole park was with wild life some of which even the t thk bam domestic and least observing of must have seen had they been with me deer with their bounded from thicket to thicket as i advanced kept rising from the brown grass with a great of wings and on the mountains of the lower branches of the pines and allowed a near approach as if curious to see me farther on a broad shouldered showed himself coming out of a grove and crossing the river on a flood of logs halting for a moment to look back the bird like about my feet everywhere among the pine needles and grass the of the river the rattled from perch to perch and the blessed sang amid the spray of every where may lonely wanderer find a more interesting family of mountain earth born companions and fellow mortals i it was afternoon when i joined them and the glorious landscape began to fade in the before i awoke from their enchantment then i sought a camp ground on the river bank made a of tea and lay down to sleep on a smooth place among the yellow leaves of an grove next day i discovered yet and life following the river over huge swelling rock through a majestic and past innumerable the scenery in general became gradually and more the sugar pine and silver gave place to the and the walls became more rugged and bare and and became more abundant in the gardens and of meadow along the streams toward the middle of the afternoon i came to another valley strikingly wild and original in all its features and perhaps never before touched by human foot as regards area of level bottom land it is one of the wild sheep the very smallest of the type but its walls are sublime rising to a height of from to feet above the river at the head of the valley the main forks as is found to be the case in all the formation of this one is due mountain wild chiefly to the action of two great whose fountains lay to the eastward on the of and and a cluster of nameless peaks farther south the mountains op the gray river was singing the valley but above its roar i heard the of a which drew me eagerly on and just as i emerged from the tangled groves and at the head of the valley the main fork of the river came in sight falling fresh from its fountains in a snowy between granite walls feet high the steep incline down which the glad waters thundered seemed to bar all farther progress it was not long however before i discovered a crooked in the rock by which i was enabled to climb to the edge of a terrace that crosses the and the nearly in the middle here i sat down to take breath and make some in my note book taking advantage at the same time of my elevated position above the trees to gaze back over the valley into the heart of the noble landscape little knowing the while what neighbors were near after spending a few minutes in this way i chanced to look across the fall and there stood three sheep quietly observing me never did the sudden appearance of a mountain or fall or human friend more forcibly seize and my attention anxiety to observe accurately held me perfectly still eagerly i marked the flowing of their firm muscles their strong legs ears eyes heads their graceful rounded necks the color of their hair and the bold curves of their noble horns when they moved i watched every gesture while they in no wise disconcerted either by my attention or by the the wild sheep tumultuous roar of the water advanced deliberately alongside the between the two divisions of the turning now and then to look at me presently they came to a steep ice which they ascended by a succession of quick short stiff legged leaps reaching the top without a struggle this was the most startling feat of i had ever witnessed and considering only the of the thing my astonishment could hardly have been greater had they displayed wings and taken to flight on such ground would have fallen and rolled like loosened many a time where the slopes are far lower i have been compelled to take off my shoes and stockings tie them to my belt and creep with the utmost caution no wonder then that i watched the progress of these animal with keen sympathy and in the boundless of wild nature displayed in their invention construction and keeping a few minutes later i caught sight of a dozen more in one band near the foot of the upper fall | 28 |
they were standing on the same side of the river with me only twenty five or thirty yards away looking as and perfect as if created on the spot it appeared by their tracks which i had seen in the little and by their present position that when i came up the they were all feeding together down in the valley and in their haste to reach high ground where they could look about them to ascertain the nature of the strange disturbance they were divided three ascending on one side the river the rest on the other the mountains of a stream the main band headed by an experienced chief now began to cross the wild between the two divisions of the this was another the sheep exciting feat for among all the varied experiences of the crossing of boisterous torrents is found to be one of the most trying to the nerves yet these fine fellows walked to the brink and jumped from to holding themselves in easy above the whirling current as if they were doing nothing extraordinary in the immediate of this rare picture there was a fold of ice granite traversed by a few bold lines in which rock and of were growing the gray walls on the sides nobly and adorned with brown and pines lofty peaks in the distance and in the middle ground the snowy fall the voice and soul of the landscape bushes beating time to its thunder tones the brave sheep in front of it their gray forms slightly obscured in the spray yet standing out in good heavy relief against the close white water with their huge horns rising like the roots of dead pine trees while the evening streaming up the colored all the picture a rosy purple and made it glorious after crossing the river the led by their chief at once began to scale the wall turning now right now left in long single file keeping well apart out of one another s way and leaping in regular succession from to now ascending slippery dome curves now walking leisurely along the edges of stopping at times to gaze down at me from some flat rock with heads held as if curious to learn what i thought about it or whether i was likely to the mountains of follow them after reaching the top of the wall which at this place is somewhere between and feet high they were still visible against the sky as they lingered looking down in groups of or throughout the entire ascent they did not make a single awkward step or an unsuccessful effort of any kind i have frequently seen tame sheep in mountains jump upon a sloping rock surface hold on a few seconds and fall back baffled and but in the most trying situations where the slightest want or would have been fatal these always seemed to move in comfortable reliance on their strength and skill the limits of which they never appeared to know moreover each one of the flock while following the guidance of the most experienced yet climbed with intelligent independence as a perfect individual capable of separate existence whenever it should wish or be compelled to withdraw from the little the domestic sheep on the contrary is only a of an animal a whole flock being required to form an individual just as numerous are required to make one complete those who in summer drive their flocks to the mountain pastures and while watching them night and day have seen them frightened by bears and storms and scattered like will in some measure be able to appreciate the self reliance and strength and noble individuality of nature s sheep like the climbing of europe our is said to plunge headlong down the faces the wild sheep of sheer and alight on his big horns i know only two hunters who claim to have actually witnessed this feat i never was so fortunate they describe the act as a head foremost the horns are so large at the base that they cover the upper portion of the head down nearly to a level with the eyes and the skull is exceedingly strong i struck an old specimen on mount a dozen blows with my ice ax without breaking it such would not very readily by the wildest rock but other bones could hardly be expected to hold together in such a performance and the mechanical difficulties in the way of their movements after striking upon an irregular surface are in themselves sufficient to show this like method of to be impossible even in the absence of all other evidence on the subject moreover the follow wherever the may lead although their horns are mere i have found many pairs of the horns of the old considerably battered doubtless a result of fighting i was particularly interested in the question after witnessing the performances of this san band upon the rocks at the foot of the falls and as soon as i procured specimens and examined their feet all the mystery disappeared the secret considered in connection with strong muscles is simply this the wide portion of the bottom of the foot instead of wearing down and becoming flat and hard like the feet of tame sheep and horses out in a soft rubber like or cushion which not only the mountains of and holds well on smooth rocks but fits into small and down upon or against slight even the hardest portions of the edge of the are comparatively soft and elastic the toes admit of an extraordinary amount of both and movement allowing the foot to accommodate itself still more perfectly to the of rock while at the same time increasing the power at the base of sheep rock one of the winter of the flocks there lives a who has had the advantage of observing the movements of wild sheep every winter and in | 28 |
the course of a conversation ith him on the subject of their habits he pointed to the front of a about feet high which is only eight or ten degrees out of the perpendicular there said he i followed a band of them fellows to the back of that rock yonder and expected to capture them all for i thought i had a dead thing on them i got behind them on a narrow bench that runs along the face of the wall near the top and comes to an end where they could n t get away without falling and being killed but they jumped off and landed all right as if that were the regular thing with them what n said i jumped feet perpendicular did you see them do it f no he replied i did nt see them going down for i was behind them but i saw them go off over the brink and then i went below and found their tracks where they struck on the loose rubbish at the bottom they just sailed right off and the wild sheep landed on their feet right side up that is the mud of animal they is beats anything else that goes on four legs on another occasion flock pursued by hunters retreated to another portion of this same cliff where it is still higher and on being followed they were seen jumping down in perfect order one behind another by two men who happened to be where they had a fair view of them and could watch their progress from top to bottom of the precipice both and made the frightful descent extraordinary concern the rock closely the of half falling wild sheep jumping a the mountains op half leaping movements by striking at short intervals and holding back with their rubber feet upon small and until near the bottom when they sailed off into the free air and alighted on their feet but with their bodies so nearly in a position that they appeared to be it appears therefore that the methods of this wild become clearly as soon as we make ourselves acquainted with the rocks and the kind of feet and muscles brought to bear upon them the and indians are or rather have been the most successful hunters of the wild sheep in the regions that have come under my own observation i have seen large numbers of heads and horns in the of mount and the beds where the indians had been in stormy weather also in the of the opposite s valley while the heavy arrow heads found on some of the highest peaks show that this warfare has long been going on in the more accessible that stretch across the desert regions of western and considerable numbers of indians used to hunt in company like of wolves and being perfectly acquainted with the of their and with the habits and instincts of the game they were pretty successful on the tops of nearly every one of the mountains that i have visited i found small nest like built of stones in which as i afterward learned one or more indians would lie in wait while their the wild sheep the below knowing that the alarmed sheep would surely run to the summit and when they could be made to approach with the wind they were shot at short range indians hunt in q wild sheep still larger bands of indians used to make extensive upon some dominant mountain much frequented by the sheep such as mount grant on the range to the west of lake on the mountains of some particular spot situated with reference to the well known of the sheep they built a high walled with long guiding wings from the and into this they sometimes succeeded in driving the noble game great numbers of indians were of course required more indeed than they could usually muster mounting in children and all they were compelled therefore to build rows of hunters out of stones along the ridge tops which they wished to prevent the sheep from crossing and without the sagacity of the game these were found effective for with a few live indians moving about excitedly among them they could hardly be distinguished at a little distance from men by any one not in the secret the whole ridge top then seemed to be alive with hunters the only animal that may fairly be regarded as a companion or rival of the sheep is the rocky mountain goat which as its name is more than goat he too is a brave and hardy crossing the wildest and the storms but he is shaggy short legged and much less dignified in than the sheep his jet black horns are only about five or six inches in length and the long white hair with which he is covered the expression of his limbs i have never yet seen a single specimen in the though possibly a few flocks may have lived on mount a comparatively short time ago the of these two are pretty the wild sheep distinct and they see but little of each other the sheep being mostly to the dry inland mountains the goat or to the wet snowy laden mountains of the coast of the continent in washington british and probably more than dwell on the icy of mount and while i was exploring the of i saw flocks of these admirable nearly every day and often followed their through the of bewildering in which they are excellent guides three species of deer are found in the black white and mule deer the first mentioned is by far the most abundant and occasionally meets the sheep during the summer on high meadows and along the edge of the timber line but being a forest animal seeking shelter and its young in dense it seldom visits the wild sheep in its | 28 |
higher homes the though not a is occasionally met in winter by the sheep while feeding along the edges of the sage plains and bare hills to the east of the so also is the mule deer which is almost in its range to this eastern region the white species belongs to the coast perhaps no wild animal in the world is without enemies but as a class have fewer than the slipping and crouching among long grass and bushes upon the and deer but seldom crosses the bald of the sheep neither can the mountains op the bears be regarded as enemies for though they seek to vary their every day diet of nuts and by an occasional meal of mutton they prefer to hunt tame and helpless flocks and no doubt capture an lamb at times or some unfortunate beset in deep soft snow but these cases are little more than accidents so also a few perish in long continued snow storms though in all my i have not found more than five or six that seemed to have met their fate in this way a little band of three were discovered snow bound in bloody a few years ago and were killed with an ax by who chanced to be crossing the range in winter man is the most dangerous enemy of all but even from him our brave mountain has little to fear in the remote of the high the golden plains of the and san were lately thronged with bands of and but being fertile and accessible they were required for human pastures so also are many of the feeding grounds of the deer hill valley forest and meadow but it will be long before man will care to take the castles of the sheep and when we consider here how rapidly entire species of noble animals such as the and are being pushed to the very verge of all lovers of will rejoice with me in the rocky security of the of all the chapter xv m the foot hills s camp is a curious old town in county at an elevation of feet above the sea situated like a nest in the of a rough region rich in gold iron veins of dead fire rivers and dead water rivers are developed here side by side within a of a few miles and placed open before the student like a book while the people and the region beyond the camp furnish mines of study of never failing interest and variety when i discovered this curious place i wa tracing the channels of the ancient pre rivers instructive sections of which have been laid bare here and in the adjacent regions by the rivers according to the poets go on forever v but those of the are young as yet and have scarcely learned the way down to the sea while at least one generation of them have died and vanished together with most of the they drained all that remains of them to tell their history is a series of interrupted fragments of channels mostly choked with gravel and buried beneath broad the mountains of thick sheets of these are known as the dead of and the gravel deposited in them is called the blue lead in some places the channels of the present rivers in the same direction or nearly so as those of the ancient rivers but in general there is little correspondence between them the entire having been changed or rather made new many of the hills of the ancient have become hollows and the old hollows have become hills therefore the channels with their loads of gravel occur in all kinds of of places or even at right angles to the present across the tops of lofty or far beneath them presenting impressive illustrations of the magnitude of the changes accomplished since those ancient streams were the last period preceding the of the seems to have come on over all the range almost simultaneously like the period notwithstanding of different age occur together in many places indicating numerous periods of activity in the fire fountains the most important of the ancient river channels in this region is a section that extends from the south side of the town beneath creek and the ridge beyond it to the of the but on account of its depth below the general surface of the present valleys the rich gold it is known to contain cannot be easily worked on a large scale their extraordinary richness may be inferred from the in the foot hills fact that many claims were worked in them by sinking shafts to a depth of feet or more and the dirt by a should the dip of this ancient channel be such as to make the available as a then the grand deposit might be worked by the method and although a long expensive would be required the scheme might still prove profitable for there is millions in it the importance of these ancient as gold fountains is well known to even the superficial of the present streams have derived much of their gold from them according to all accounts the have been very terrific rich as they say here the hills have been cut and and every and and valley torn to pieces and expressing a fierce and desperate energy hard to understand still any kind of effort making is better than and there is something sublime in seeing men working in dead earnest at anything pursuing an object with like energy and many a brave fellow has recorded a most chapter of life on these rocks but most of the are sleeping now their wild day done while the few linger languidly in the washed out or sleepy village like bees around the ruins of their hive we have no industry left now they told me and no men everybody and everything has gone to | 28 |
decay we are only out of the game a thin of poor compared with what we used the mountains of to be in the grand old gold days we were giants then and you can look around here and see our tracks but although these lingering are perhaps more exhausted than the mines and about as dead as the dead rivers they are yet a rare and interesting set of men with much gold mixed with the rough rocky gravel of their characters and they manifest a breeding and intelligence little looked for in such surroundings as theirs as the heavy long continued grinding of the brought out the features of the so the intense experiences of the gold period have brought out the features of these old forming a richness and variety of character little known as yet the sketches of and miller have not exhausted this field by any means it is interesting to note the extremes possible in one and the same character and gentleness and and fierce endeavor men who twenty years ago would not cease their to save their lives now play in the streets with children their long like waiting after the exhaustion of the has brought on an exaggerated form of i heard a group of in the street eagerly discussing the quantity of tail required for a boy s and one undertook the sport of flying it the information that he was a boy always was a boy and d n a man who was not a boy inside however ancient outside mines morals politics the immortality of the soul etc were discussed beneath and in the time for each being in the foot hills apparently by the temperature contact with nature and the habits of observation acquired in gold seeking had made them all to some extent and like wood rats they had gathered all kinds of odd specimens into their and now required me to examine them they were the and most interesting specimens one of them offered to show me around the old giving me fair warning before setting out that i might not like him because said he people say i m eccentric i notice everything and gather and and anything that s queer and so some don t like me and call me eccentric i m always trying to find out things now there s a weed the indians eat it for what do you call those long flies with big heads i flies i suggested well their jaws work instead of up and down and jaws work the same way and therefore i think they are the same species i always notice everything like that and just because i do they say i m eccentric etc anxious that i should miss none of the wonders of their old gold field the good people had much to say about the beauty of cave city cave and advised me to explore it this i was very glad to do and finding a guide who knew the way to the mouth of it i set out from the next morning the most beautiful and extensive of the mountain of occur in a belt of that is pretty generally developed along the western flank of the from the mc the mountains of cloud river on the north to the on the south a distance of over miles at an elevation of from to feet above the sea besides this regular belt of the are by long imposing ranks of sea rugged and in architecture carved in the coast and by centuries of wave dashing and innumerable great and small in the unequal flowing and of the sheets in which they occur fine illustrations of which are presented in the famous beds and around the base of icy in this comprehensive glance we may also notice the wind worn in along the of the plains and the cave like recesses in the and where bears and other find shelter during the fall of sudden storms in general however the grand massive of the as far as it has been laid bare to observation is about as solid and as a fresh beauty opens one s eyes wherever it is really seen but the very abundance and completeness of the common beauty that our steps prevents its being absorbed and appreciated it is a good thing therefore to make short excursions now and then to the bottom of the sea among and coral or up among the clouds on or in or even to creep like worms into dark holes and not only to learn something of what is going on in those out of the way places but to ee better what the sun sees on our return to common every day beauty in the foot hills our way from s to the cave lay across a series of picturesque in the region between the brown foot hills and the forests a stretch of rolling hill waves breaking here and there into a kind of rocky foam on the higher and sinking into delightful hollows with vines the day was a fine specimen of summer pure sunshine most of the time by a single cloud as the sun rose higher the heated air began to flow in tremulous waves from every southern slope the sea breeze that usually comes up the foot hills at this season with on its wings was scarcely perceptible the birds were assembled beneath leafy shade or made short languid flights in search of food all save the majestic with broad wings he sailed the warm air from ridge to ridge seeming to enjoy the sunshine like a butterfly too whose no heat or cold may were among the pines and the innumerable hosts of the insect kingdom were throbbing and wavering as this bearing region used to be a deer and bear pasture but since the of the gold period these fine animals have | 28 |
almost wholly disappeared here also once the and elephant whose bones are found in the river and beneath thick folds of toward noon as we were riding slowly over bank and in the sun heat we witnessed the of a new mountain range a of clouds in land the mountains of as truly sublime and beautiful if only we have a mind to think so and eyes to see as the more ancient rocky beneath it with its forests and reminding us that as there is a lower world of so also there is an upper world of clouds huge developed with astonishing rapidity from mere swelling with visible motion into colossal mountains and higher higher in long massive peak beyond peak dome over dome with many a picturesque valley and shadowy cave between while the dark and pines of the upper benches of the were projected against their pearl with exquisite clearness of outline these cloud mountains vanished in the as quickly as they were developed leaving no but they were not a whit less real or interesting on this account the more enduring hills over which we rode were vanishing as surely as they only not so fast a difference which is great or small according to the from which it is contemplated at the bottom of eveiy we found little in wild brush and vines wherever the of the hills left patches of ground these secluded are settled mostly by and g who plant a few vegetables and vines at odd times while their main business is and in spite of all the natural beauty of these they can hardly be called homes they are only a better kind of camp gladly abandoned whenever the hoped for gold harvest has been gathered there is an air of profound and melancholy about in the foot hills the best of them their beauty is thrust upon them by nature apart from which they are only a few logs and boards rudely and without either ceiling or floor a rough fireplace with corresponding cooking a shelf bed and stool the ground about them is strewn with battered boxes and specimens from many a ledge indicating the of their owners hard lives the ride from s to the cave is scarcely two hours long but we lingered among and banks of dead river gravel until long after noon at length emerging from a narrow a small house came in sight set in a thicket of fig trees at the base of a hill that said my guide pointing to the house is cave city and the cave is in that gray hill arriving at the one house of this one house city we were welcomed by three drunken men who had come to town to hold a the mistress of the house tried to keep order and in reply to our inquiries told us that the cave guide was then in the cave with a party of ladies and must we wait until he returns we asked no that was unnecessary we might take candles and go into the cave alone provided we shouted from time to time so as to be found by the guide and were careful not to fall over the rocks or into the dark pools accordingly taking a trail from the house we were led around the base of the hill to the mouth of the cave a small around the edges and shaped like the door of a water s nest with no hint or advertisement of the mountains of the grandeur of the many crystal chambers within lighting our candles which seemed to have no power in the thick darkness we our way onward as best we could along narrow lanes and from chamber to chamber around rustic columns and heaps of fallen rocks stopping to rest now and then in particularly beautiful places fairy furnished with admirable variety of shelves and tables and round covered with sparkling some of the were muddy and in along these we seemed to be in the streets of some village in spring time then we would come to handsome marble conducting right and left into upper chambers ranged above one another three or four stories high floors and walls decorated with innumerable forms after thus wandering and alone for a mile or so fairly enchanted a murmur of voices and a gleam of light betrayed the approach of the guide and his party from whom when they came up we received a most hearty and natural stare as we stood half concealed in a side recess among i ventured to ask the dripping crouching company how they had enjoyed their anxious to learn how the strange scenery of the had impressed them ah it s nice it s splendid they all replied and echoed the chamber back here is just glorious this morning we came down from the big tree grove and the trees are nothing to it after making this curious comparison they hastened the guide promising to join us in the foot hills shortly on the bank of a deep pool where we were to wait for him this is a charming little of unknown depth never yet stirred by a breeze and its eternal calm the imagination even more profoundly than the silvery lakes of the with meadows and snow and reflecting sublime mountains our guide a jolly italian led us into the heart of the hill up and down right and left from chamber to chamber more and more magnificent all a glitter like a cave with like and combined in forms of indescribable beauty we were shown one large room that was occasionally used as a dancing hall another that was used as a chapel with natural pulpit and crosses and sermons in every stone where a priest had said mass mass saying is not so generally developed in connection with natural wonders as dancing one of the first | 28 |
excited by the giant was to cut one of them down and dance on its stump we have also seen dancing in the spray of dancing in the famous bower cave above and nowhere have i seen so much dancing as in a dance on the inaccessible south dome would likely follow the making of an easy way to the top of it it was delightful to witness here the infinite deliberation of nature the simplicity of her methods in the production of such mighty results such perfect repose combined with restless enthusiastic energy though cold and as a landscape of ice building was going on in the j the mountains of dark with incessant activity the and were everywhere hung with down growing like groves of some of them large others delicately each tipped with a single drop of water like the bud of a pine tree the only sounds were the dripping and of water falling into pools or faintly on the crystal floors k v in some places the crystal are arranged in graceful flowing folds deeply like stiff silken in others straight lines of the ordinary forms are combined with reference to size and tone in a regularly system like the strings of a harp with musical tones corresponding and on these stone we played by striking the crystal strings with a stick the delicious liquid tones they gave forth seemed perfectly divine as they sweetly whispered and wavered through the majestic halls and died away in faintest the music of fairy land here we lingered and rejoicing to find so much music in stony silence so much splendor in darkness so many in the depths of the mountains buildings ever in process of construction yet ever finished developing from perfection to perfection profusion without every visible or invisible in glorious motion marching to the music of the in a region regarded as the abode of eternal stillness and death the outer chambers of mountain are frequently selected as homes by wild beasts in the in the foot hills however they seem to prefer homes and hiding places in and beneath as i have never seen their tracks in any of the this is the more remarkable because notwithstanding the darkness and water there is nothing cellar like or about them when we emerged into the bright the sun everything looked brighter and we felt our faith in nature s beauty strengthened and saw more clearly that beauty is universal and immortal above beneath on land and sea mountain and plain in heat and cold light and darkness u chapter xvi the bee when was wild it was one sweet bee garden throughout its entire length north and south and all the way across from the snowy to the ocean wherever a bee might fly within the bounds of this virgin wilderness through the forests along the banks of the rivers along the and the sea over valley and plain park and grove and deep leafy or far up the slopes of the mountains throughout every belt and section of climate up to the timber line bee flowers in lavish abundance here they grew more or less apart in special sheets and patches of no great size there in broad flowing folds hundreds of miles in length of forests of of and wild rose sheets of golden beds of beds of beds of and and so on certain species blooming somewhere all the year round but of late years and sheep have made sad in these glorious pastures destroying of thousands of the acres like a fire and species of the best honey plants to the bee pastures cliffs and fence corners while on the other hand cultivation thus far has given no adequate compensation at least in kind only acres of for miles of the richest wild pasture ornamental roses and around cottage doors for of wild roses in the and small square and orange groves for broad of the great central plain of during the months of march april and may was one smooth continuous bed of honey bloom so rich that in walking from one end of it to the other a distance of more than miles your foot would press about a hundred flowers at every step and innumerable were so crowded together that had ninety nine per cent of them been taken away the plain would still have seemed to any but the radiant ul touching and and rising above one another glowed in the living light like a sunset sky one sheet of purple and gold with the bright pouring through the midst of it from the north the san from the south and their many sweeping in at right angles from the mountains dividing the plain into sections fringed with trees along the rivers there is a strip of bottom land beneath the general level and wider toward the foot hills where magnificent oaks from three to eight feet in cast grateful masses of shade over the open like and close along the water s edge there was a fine the mountains of of tropical composed of wild rose and bushes and a great variety of climbing vines and the branches and trunks of and and swinging across from summit to summit in heavy here the wild bees in fresh bloom long after the flowers of the plain had withered and gone to seed and in when the v were ripe the indians came from the mountains to feast men women and babies in long noisy trains often joined by the farmers of the neighborhood who gathered this wild fruit with appreciation of its superior flavor while their home were full of ripe and and their were laden with grapes but though these luxuriant shaggy river beds were thus distinct from the smooth plain they made no heavy dividing lines in general views the whole appeared as one continuous sheet of bloom | 28 |
bounded only by the mountains when i first saw this central garden the most extensive and regular of all the bee pastures of the state it seemed all one sheet of plant gold and vanishing in the distance distinct as a new map along the foot hills at my feet descending the eastern slopes of the coast range through beds of and and around many a and bush crowned i at length out into the midst of it all the ground was covered not with grass and green leaves but with radiant about ankle deep next the foot hills knee deep or more five or six the mountains op miles out here were etc growing in close social of various shades of yellow finely with the of and whose delicate were drinking the vital without giving back any sparkling glow because so long a period of extreme the rainy season most of the vegetation is composed of which spring up simultaneously and bloom together at about the same height above the ground the general surface being but slightly ruffled by the taller and groups of the king of the in any direction hundreds of these happy sun plants brushed against my feet at every step and closed over them as if i were in liquid gold the air was sweet with fragrance the sang their blessed songs rising on the wing as i advanced then sinking out of sight in the sod while of wild bees stirred the lower air with their monotonous hum monotonous yet forever fresh and sweet as every day sunshine and showed themselves in considerable numbers in shallow places and small bands of were almost constantly in sight gazing curiously from some slight elevation and then bounding swiftly away with grace of motion yet i could discover no crushed flowers to mark their track nor indeed any destructive action of any wild foot or tooth whatever the great yellow days by while i drifted toward the north observing the the bee countless forms of life about me lying down almost anywhere on the approach of night and what glorious beds i had on i would find several new species leaning over me and looking me full in the face so that my studies would begin before rising about the first of may i turned eastward crossing the san river between the mouths of the and and by the time i had reached the foot hills most of the vegetation had gone to seed and become as dry as hay all the seasons of the great plain are warm or temperate and bee flowers are never wholly wanting but the grand the annual is governed by the rains which usually set in about the middle of november or the beginning of december then the seeds that for six months have lain on the ground dry and fresh as if they had been gathered into at once their life the general brown and purple of the ground and the dead vegetation of the preceding year give place to the green of and and of young leaves then one species after another comes into flower gradually the green with yellow and purple which lasts until may the rainy season v is by no means a gloomy period of constant and rain perhaps nowhere else in north america perhaps in the world are the months of december january february and march so full of bland plant building sunshine referring to my notes of the winter and spring of every day of which i spent the mountains of out of doors on that section of the plain lying between the and rivers i find that the first rain of the season fell on december th january had only six rainy days that is days on which rain fell february three march five april three and may three the so called rainy season which was about an average one the ordinary rain storm of this region seldom very cold or violent the winds which in settled weather come from the round into the opposite direction the sky fills gradually and with one general cloud from which the rain falls steadily often for days in succession at a temperature of about or more than seventy five per cent of all the rain of this season came from the down the coast over british washington and though the local winds of these circular storms blow from the one magnificent local storm from the fell on march a massive round cloud came swelling and thundering over the plain in most imposing majesty its front burning white and purple in the full blaze of the sun while warm rain poured from its ample fountains like a beating down flowers and bees and the dry as suddenly as those of are by the so called but in less than half an hour not a trace of the heavy mountain like cloud structure was left in the sky and the bees were on the wing as if nothing more gratefully refreshing could have been sent them the bee by the end of january four species of plants were in flower and five or six had already adjusted their and were in the prime of life but the flowers were not sufficiently numerous as yet to affect greatly the general green of the young leaves made their appearance in the first week of february and toward the end of this month the warmer portions of the plain were already golden with of the flowers of this was the full the sunshine grew warmer and richer new plants every day the air became more with humming wings and sweeter with the fragrance of the opening flowers and ground were getting ready for their summer work rubbing their limbs and themselves on the piles before their doors and were busy mending their old or weaving new ones in march the vegetation was more than doubled | 28 |
as and other with wild and and in the cool along the stream banks where the shade of trees is not too deep dog wood and and many species of form some portion of which continues in bloom for months though the coast region was the first to be invaded and settled by white men it has suffered less from a bee point of view than either of the other main divisions chiefly no doubt because of the of the surface and because it is owned and protected instead of lying exposed to the flocks of the wandering these remarks apply more particularly to the north half of the coast farther south there is less moisture less forest shade and the honey is less varied the mountains of the region is the largest of the three main divisions of the bee lands of the state and the most regularly varied in its owing to their gradual rise from the level of the central plain to the the foot hill region is about as dry and from the end of may until the setting in of the winter rains as the plain there are no shady forests no damp at all like those lying at the same in the coast mountains the social of the plain with a few added species form the bulk of the portion of the vegetation up to a height of feet or more shaded lightly here and there with oaks and pines and interrupted by patches of and above this and just below the forest region there is a dark heath like belt of composed almost exclusively of a bush belonging to the rose family from five to eight feet high with small round leaves in and bearing a multitude of small white flowers in on the ends of the upper branches where it occurs at all it usually covers all the ground with a close impenetrable growth scarcely broken for miles up through the forest region to a height of about feet above sea level there are ragged patches of and five or six species of called deer brush or these are the most important of all the honey bearing bushes of the a little about a foot high with flowers like the makes handsome carpets beneath the pines and seems to be a favorite with the bees while the bee pines themselves furnish unlimited quantities of and honey dew the product of a single tree its at the right time of year would be sufficient for the wants of a whole hive along the streams there is a rich growth of lilies and the region contains the meadows and countless small gardens in all sorts of places full of of several species and with beds of and the charming covered with sweet bells even the tops of the mountains are blessed with flowers dwarf etc i have seen wild bees and feeding at a height of feet above the sea many however that go up these dangerous heights never come down again some undoubtedly perish in storms and i have found thousands lying dead or on the surface of the to which they had perhaps been attracted by the white glare taking them for beds of bloom from that escaped their owners in the the honey bee is now generally distributed throughout the whole length of the up to an elevation of feet above sea level at this height they flourish without care though the snow every winter is deep even higher than this several bee trees have been cut which contained over pounds of honey the destructive action of sheep has not been so general on the mountain pastures as on those of the great plain but in many places it has been the mountains op more complete owing to the more character of the soil and its sloping position the digging and down action of hoofs on the slopes of has and buried many of the tender plants from year to year without allowing time to their seeds the shrubs too are badly bitten especially the various species of fortunately neither sheep nor cattle care to feed on the or and these fine are too stiff and tall or grow in places too rough and inaccessible to be trodden under foot also the walls and which form so considerable a part of the area of the range while inaccessible to domestic sheep are well fringed with honey shrubs and contain thousands of lovely bee gardens lying hid in narrow side and recesses with and on the top of flat projecting where only bees would think to look for them but on the other hand a great portion of the plants that escape the feet and teeth of the sheep are destroyed by the by means of running fires which are set everywhere during the dry autumn for the purpose of burning off the old fallen trunks and with a view to improving the pastures and making more open ways for the flocks these destructive sheep fires sweep through nearly the entire forest belt of the range from one extremity to the other not only the but the young trees and on which the of the forests depends thus setting in motion a long train of evils the mountains of which will certainly reach far beyond bees and the has not yet invaded the forest region to any extent neither has it accomplished much in the foot hills thousands of might be established along the margin of the plain and up to a height of feet wherever water could be obtained the climate at this elevation admits of the making of permanent homes and by moving the to higher pastures as the lower pass out of bloom the annual yield of honey would be nearly doubled the foot hill pastures as we have seen fail about the end of may those of the belt and lower forests are in full bloom in | 28 |
june those of the upper and region in july august and september in scotland after the best of the bloom is past the bees are carried in carts to the and set free on the hills in france too and in they are carried from pasture to pasture among and fields in the same way and along the rivers in to collect the honey of the delightful vegetation of the banks in egypt they are taken far up the and floated slowly home again gathering the honey harvest of the various fields on the way their movements in accord with the seasons were similar methods pursued in the productive season would last nearly all the year the average elevation of the north half of the is as we have seen considerably less than that of the south half and small streams with the bank and meadow gardens dependent upon them the bee pastures are less abundant around the head waters of the feather and rivers the extensive of are planted with pines through which the sunshine reaches the ground with little interruption here a scattered growth of golden and similar plants with cherry and thorn in ragged patches on the cooler hill slopes at the of the great central plain the and coast curve around and lock together in a of mountains and valleys throughout which their are mingled making at the north with its temperate climate and copious a perfect paradise for bees though strange to say scarcely a single regular bee has yet been established in it of all the upper flower fields of the is the most and may yet in fame the celebrated honey hills of and regarding this noble mountain from a bee point of view encircled by its many and sweeping aloft from the plain into the frosty we find the first feet from the summit generally snow clad and therefore about as as the sea the base of this region is by a belt of crumbling measuring about feet in breadth and is mostly free from snow in summer beautiful the faces of the cliffs with their bright colors and in some of the warmer there are a few of wall flowers and but notwithstanding the mountains of these bloom freely in the late summer the as a whole is almost as as the icy summit and its lower edge may be taken as the honey line immediately below this comes the forest covered with a rich growth of chiefly silver rich in and honey dew and with countless garden many of them less than a hundred yards across next in orderly succession comes the great bee its area far that of the icy summit and both the other combined for it goes sweeping around the entire mountain with a breadth of six or seven miles and a of nearly a hundred miles as we have already seen is a fire created by a succession of ashes and which flowing over the lips of its several grew outward and upward like the trunk of a tree then followed a strange contrast the winter came on the mountain with ice which flowed slowly outward in every direction from the summit in the form of one vast a down crawling mantle of ice upon a fountain of fire crushing and grinding for centuries its brown with incessant activity and thus degrading and the entire mountain when at length the period began to draw near its close the ice mantle was gradually melted off around the bottom and in receding and breaking into its present condition irregular rings and heaps of matter were stored upon its the the bee of most of the produces composed of rough sub of moderate size and of gravel and sand which freely to the power of running water magnificent floods from the ample fountains of ice and snow working with sublime energy upon this prepared it out and carried down immense quantities from the higher slopes and it in smooth like beds around the base and it is these flood beds joined together that now form the main honey of the old thus by forces seemingly and destructive has mother nature accomplished her beneficent designs now a flood of fire now a flood of ice now a flood of water and at length an outburst of life a way of snowy and wings the rugged mountain like a cloud as if the beating against its sides had broken into a foam of plant bloom and bees as sea waves break and bloom on a rock shore in this wilderness the bees and rejoicing in the of the sun eagerly through and ringing the bells of the now humming aloft among and now down on the ground among and and anon plunging deep into snowy banks of cherry and they consider the lilies and roll into them and like lilies they toil not for they are impelled by sun power as water wheels by and when the one has plenty of high the mountains of sure water the other plenty of sunshine they hum and quiver alike in the bee lands in the sun days of summer one may readily infer the time of day from the comparative energy of bee movements alone drowsy and moderate in the cool of the morning increasing in energy with the ascending sun and at high noon thrilling and quivering in wild ecstasy then gradually declining again to the stillness of night in my excursions among the i occasionally meet bees that are hungry like who venture too far and remain too long above the bread line then they and like autumn leaves the bees are perhaps better fed than any others in the their field work is one perpetual f east but however the sunshine or the supply of flowers they are always dainty humming and seldom set foot upon a flower but on the wing in front of it and | 28 |
reach forward as if they were through but bees though as dainty as they their favorite flowers with profound cordiality and push their blunt faces against them like babies on their mothers bosom and fondly too with eternal love does mother nature clasp her small bee babies and them multitudes at once on her warm breast besides the common honey bee there are many other species here fine fellows who were nourished on the mountains thousands of sunny seasons before the advent of the domestic species among these are the the bee bees carpenter bees and leaf too and of every size and pattern some broad winged like flapping slowly and sailing in easy curves others like small flying shaking about loosely in short crooked flights close to the flowers night and day great numbers of deer also delight to dwell in the portions of the bee pastures bears too the sweet wilderness their blunt shaggy forms well with the trees and tangled bushes and with the bees also notwithstanding the in size they are fond of all good things and enjoy them to the utmost with but little troublesome flowers and leaves as well as and the bees themselves as well as their honey though the bears have as yet had but little experience with they often succeed in reaching stores and it seems doubtful whether bees themselves enjoy honey with so great a relish by means of their powerful teeth and claws they can and tear open almost any hive conveniently accessible most honey bees however in search of a home are wise enough to make choice of a hollow in a living tree a considerable distance above the ground when such places are to be had then they are pretty secure for though the smaller black and brown bears climb well they are unable to break into strong while compelled to exert themselves to keep from falling and at the same time to endure the of the fighting bees without having their free to rub them off but woe to the black discovered in their the mountains of nests in the ground with a few strokes of their huge the bears the entire establishment and before time is given for a general bees old and young honey nest and all are taken in one ul not the least influential of the agents concerned in the superior sweetness of the are its storms storms i mean that are strictly local bred and born on the mountain the rapidity with which they are grown on the mountain top and bestow their charity in rain and snow never fails to astonish the inexperienced often in calm glowing days while the bees are still on the wing a storm cloud may be seen far above in the pure swelling its pearl and growing silently like a plant presently a clear ringing discharge of thunder is heard followed by a rush of wind that comes sounding over the bending woods like the roar of the ocean mingling snow flowers honey flowers and bees in wild storm harmony still more impressive are the warm days of spring in the mountain pastures the blood of the plants throbbing beneath the life giving sunshine seems to be heard and felt plant growth goes on before our eyes and every tree in the woods and every bush and flower is seen as a hive of restless industry the of the sky are with singing wings of every tone and color clouds of brilliant dancing and in exquisite golden barred flies grating and jolly rattling fairly the light the mountains of on bright crisp mornings a striking effect may frequently be observed from the shadows of the higher mountains while the ar e pouring past overhead then every insect no matter what may be its own proper color burns white in the light winged jet black all are alike in pure spiritual white like in southern where bee culture has had so much skilful attention of late years the is not more abundant or more varied as to the number of its and their distribution over mountain and plain than that of many other portions of the state where the currents flow in other channels the famous white sage belonging to the family here in all its glory blooming in may and yielding great quantities of clear pale honey which is greatly in every market it has yet reached this species grows chiefly in the valleys and low hills the black sage on the mountains is part of a dense which is composed chiefly of and cherry not greatly from that of the southern portion of the but more dense and continuous and taller and remaining longer in bloom gardens so charming a feature of both the and coast mountains are less numerous in southern but they are exceedingly rich in honey flowers wherever found wild rose and lilies rising from the bee pastures the warm moist in a very storm of wild of many species is developed in abundance over the dry sandy valleys and lower slopes of the mountains toward the end of summer and is at this time the main dependence of the bees here and there by orange groves fields and small home gardens the main honey months in ordinary seasons are april may june july and august while the other months are usually enough to yield sufficient for the bees according to mr j t president of the los county bee association the first bees introduced into the county were a single hive which cost in san and arrived in september in april of the following year this hive sent out two which were sold for each from this small beginning the bees gradually multiplied to about in the year in it was estimated that there were between and in the county producing an annual yield of about pounds to the hive in some exceptional cases | 28 |
a much greater yield in san county at the beginning of the season of there were about and the from the one port of san for the same year from july to november were barrels cases and nearly tons the l fifteen of italian bees were introduced into los county in and in they had increased to the marked superiority claimed for them over the common species is now considerable attention the mountains of largest bee have about a thousand and are carefully and managed every scientific of merit being brought into use there are few bee however who own half as many as this or who give their attention to the business orange culture at present is heavily every other business a good many of the so called bee of los and san are still of the kind imaginable a man unsuccessful in everything else hears the interesting story of the profits and comforts of bee keeping and to try it he a few colonies or gets them from some on shares takes them back to the foot of some where the is fresh on the land with or without the permission of the owner sets up his makes a box cabin for himself scarcely bigger than a bee hive and his fortune bees suffer sadly from famine during the dry years which occasionally occur in the southern and middle portions of the state if the only to three or four inches instead of from twelve to twenty as in ordinary seasons then sheep and cattle die in thousands and so do these small winged cattle unless they are carefully fed or removed to other pastures the year will long be remembered as and distressing scarcely a flower on the dry valleys away from the stream sides and not a single grain field depending upon rain was the seed only came up a little way and a bee the mountains of withered horses cattle and sheep grew thinner day by day at bushes and weeds along the edges of streams many of which were dried up altogether for the first time since the settlement of the country in the course of a trip i made during the summer of that year through san and los the deplorable effects of the were everywhere visible fields dead and dying cattle dead bees and half dead people with dusty faces even the birds and were in distress though their suffering was less painfully apparent than that of the poor cattle these were falling one by one in slow sure starvation along the banks of the hot streams while thousands of fat were sailing above them or standing on the ground beneath the trees waiting with easy faith for fresh the considering the hard times abandoned all thought of they were too poor to marry and so continued in flocks all through the year without attempting to rear young the ground though an industrious and race as every farmer knows were hard pushed for a living not a fresh leaf or seed was to be found save in the trees whose masses of dark green presented a striking contrast to the of the ground beneath them the leaving their accustomed themselves to the leafy oaks to out the stores of the wood the mountains of but the latter kept up a watch upon their movements i noticed four in league against one driving the poor fellow out of an oak that they claimed he round the trunk from side to side as as he could in his condition only to find a sharp bill everywhere but the fate of the bees that year seemed the of all in different portions of los and san from one half to three of them died of sheer starvation not less than colonies perished in these two alone while in the adjacent the death rate was hardly less even the colonies nearest to the mountains suffered this year for the smaller vegetation on the foot hills was affected by the almost as severely as that of the valleys and plains and even the hardy deep rooted the dependence of the bees while much of it was beyond reach every swarm could have been saved however by promptly supplying them with food when their own stores began to fail and before they became and discouraged or by cutting roads back into the mountains and taking them into the heart of the the san san san and san are almost untouched as yet save by the wild bees some idea of their resources and of the advantages and they offer to bee may be formed from an excursion that i made into the san g range about the beginning of august the bee pastures of the dry year this range containing most of the characteristic features of the other just mentioned the los and orange groves from the north and is more rigidly inaccessible in the ordinary meaning of the word than any other that i ever attempted to penetrate the slopes are steep and to the foot and they are covered with bushes from five to ten feet high with the exception of little spots not visible in general views the entire surface is covered with them in close hedge growth sweeping gracefully down into every and hollow and swelling over every ridge and summit in shaggy offering more honey to the acre for half the year than the most crowded but when beheld from the open san valley beaten with dry sunshine all that was seen of the range seemed to wear a forbidding aspect from base to summit all seemed gray barren silent its glorious appearing like creeping over its dull wrinkled and hollows setting out from i reached the foot of the range about and being weary and heated with my walk across the valley concluded to camp for the night after resting a few moments i began to look about among the flood | 28 |
of creek for a camp ground when i came upon a strange dark looking man who had been cord wood he seemed surprised at seeing me so i sat down with him on the live oak log he had been cutting and made the mountains op haste to give a reason for my appearance in his solitude explaining that i was anxious to find out something about the mountains and meant to make my way up creek next morning then he kindly invited me to camp with him and led me to his little cabin situated at the foot of the mountains where a small spring out of a bank overgrown with wild rose bushes after supper when the daylight was gone he explained that he was out of candles so we sat in the dark while he gave me a sketch of his life in a mixture of spanish and english he was born in his father irish his mother spanish he had been a hunter etc rambling always and wearing his life away in mere waste but now he was going to settle down his past life he said was of no account but the future was promising he was going to make money and marry a spanish woman people mine here for water as for gold he had been running a into a spur of the mountain back of his cabin my prospect is good he said and if i chance to strike a good strong flow i soon be worth or for that flat out there referring to a small irregular patch of two or three acres in size that had been deposited by creek during some flood season that flat is large enough for a nice and the bank behind the cabin will do for a and after watering my own trees and vines i will have some water left to sell to my neighbors below me down the valley and then he continued i can keep bees and make money a oh the de h the mountains of that way too for the mountains above here are just full of honey in the summer time and one of my neighbors down here says that he will let me have a whole lot of on shares to start with you see i ve a good thing i m all right now all this in the sunken choked flood bed of a mountain stream leaving the bees out of the count most would as soon think of settling on the summit of mount next morning wishing my hopeful good luck i set out on my shaggy excursion about half an hour s walk above the cabin i came to the fall famous throughout the valley as the finest yet discovered in the san mountains it is a charming little thing with a low sweet voice singing like a bird as it from a in a short ledge some or forty feet into a round mirror pool the face of the cliff back of it and on both sides is smoothly covered and with against which the white water shines out in relief like a silver instrument in a velvet case hither come the san lads and to gather and away their hot holidays in the cool water glad to escape from their commonplace palm gardens and orange groves the delicate grows on rocks within reach of the spray while broad and cast soft mellow shade over a rich profusion of bee flowers growing among in front of the pool the fall the flowers the bees the rocks and leafy shade forming a charming little the bee poem of the last of a series extending down the slopes of mount san through the rugged foam beaten of the main from the base of the fall i followed the ridge that forms the western rim of the basin to the summit of one of the principal peaks which is about feet above sea level then turning eastward i crossed the middle of the basin forcing a way over its many subordinate and across its eastern rim having to contend almost everywhere with the and most impenetrable growth of honey bushes i had ever encountered since first my began most of the is leafy nearly to the ground here the main stems are naked for three or four feet and with dead twigs forming a stiff through which even the bears make their way with difficulty i was compelled to creep for miles on all and in following the bear often f of hair on the bushes where they had forced themselves through for feet or so above the fall the ascent was made possible only by tough cushions of club moss that clung to the rock above this the ridge away to a thin knife blade for a few hundred yards and thence to the summit of the range it carries a mane of here and there small occur on rocky places commanding fine views across the cultivated valley to the ocean these i found by the tracks were favorite and resting places for the wild animals bears wolves etc which abound here the mountains of and would have to be taken into account in the establishment of bee in the deepest i found wood rat villages groups of huts four to six feet high built of sticks and leaves in rough piles like rat i noticed a good many bees too most of them wild the tame honey bees seemed languid and wing weary as if they had come all the way up from the valley after reaching the summit i had time to make only a hasty survey of the basin now glowing in the sunset gold before hastening down into one of the in search of water emerging from a particularly tedious breadth of i found myself free and erect in a beautiful park like grove of mountain live oak | 28 |
n the services three things are necessary to give that position of m professional work which it is surely but with difficulty namely good apparatus intelligent and skilled use of such apparatus and sound general medical training and experience to interpret and control the results so obtained the two former conditions are possible enough vi preface to outside the medical profession the third is of its nature impossible to such persons and the three cannot be separated for a non professional to medical opinion upon a is sheer impertinence such as would be in no other profession or business for a medical man to make an intelligent reading of a with his earlier acquired medical knowledge it is essential that he should thoroughly understand and be in regular contact with the production of such records to such understanding we trust our work may contribute by forming a plain guide to a knowledge of the apparatus required the methods of its operation and the interpretation of the finished product we have purposely avoided and the authorities indirectly the formation of the opinions expressed are too numerous to acknowledge wherever possible we have quoted personal experience and on that mainly is this work based many questions in are yet in an unsettled condition many problems are only being faced thus continues to attract much serious attention and by of suitable apparatus results may soon be attained w hich will of certain views expressed by us on p see p such points still under discussion we have purposely refrained from since this is meant to be in as it is in name a practical we are aware that we have omitted much which we might have noted or discussed but we believe we have included all that is essential to an understanding of and we trust that what is lost through lack of may be more than for by absence of confusion d a a street j m london w london s w november contents pa ok i the x ray ii sources of supply iii apparatus iv apparatus v vi interpretation of ordinary and vii of foreign bodies viii ix x index list of page early pattern of x ray s original model of x bay of x bay and s of equivalent spark gap x bay with third x ray with x bay with x bay with x bay with heavy metal x bay with water cooled a x bay with air cooled b x bay with air cooled of sketch of combined and series for current jet set of set of in box of connected for charging lamp for charging lamp board for charging connected to sketch of simple sketch of arrangement of s for charging engine driving for x bay field service a horse gear in use b horse gear with cover removed machine connected to x bay on break with perpendicular ix x list of illustrations no with s jet jet s jet s sketch of simple exterior of modern or spark gap with and in position of construction of or hammer l old form or improved form or hammer break improved form of to explain working a for x work with etc b for x ray work another form x ray stand for x ray stand for work a x ray with b x ray on as for ward work x ray table or couch of from x ray flat pattern on of flat and with simple form air bag for lantern box for reflecting sketch of of foreign bodies sketch of of foreign bodies sketch of s sketch of foreign bodies arrangement for exposing for s arrangement for exposing plate for s s cross thread mr s for foreign bodies in the eye of foreign body in the from mr dimensions of spontaneous without in bone liable to be mistaken for list of illustrations xi page of os at age of twelve double view of s of of bone of of bone of of of joint sketch of appearance of in fingers sketch of appearance of sketch of position for shoulder joint sketch of position for appearance of of about shoulder joint of normal elbow sketch of position for joint of about elbow joint double view of of finger of of wrist and hand of of s disease i appearance of and position for sketch of position for hip joint of normal hip of hip of about hip joint of about knee joint sketch of position for ankle joint sketch of appearance of ankle joint arrangement for ankle joint with of of ankle and foot sketch of position for position for lower part of and shadow of in of of normal plate in front of normal plate behind of of advanced sketch of normal shadow sketch of shadow in sketch of shadow in of of of o during life xii list of illustrations kid page projected of right position sketch of shadows in two positions sketch central side link for table for sketch parallel for tracing outline of heart a manual of practical x ray work to one already acquainted with it matters little in what we consider its various or problems he will seek out for himself the parts in which he may be specially interested or the points on which he may desire as a general plan of the work we have thought fit to begin by considering the immediate production of x rays next to consider the means of their production then to proceed to the discussion of their practical uses for the benefit of those who have not previously studied the subject we have the following brief note on the of the x ray like so many other processes by the medical profession is based on the results of in pure science remote from any suggestion of issue the present x ray has been from the older or in the latter when the pressure | 28 |
is reduced slightly the resistance to electric discharge is lessened and discharge takes place through the with phenomena of illumination depending in character on the degree of exhaustion the nature of the gas also affects the character of the illumination but we are concerned only with the presence of ordinary air exhaustion beyond a certain degree the resistance practical x ray work to electric discharge through the and as the resistance the of discharge but at a point of high exhaustion a becomes evident on the walls of the or on any object interposed between the in made of glass this is of a transparent apple green colour with lead glass it is of a tinge sir william about studied and interpreted the phenomena of such discharge in high the fig fig pressure in the he worked with being reduced to about one part of an atmosphere he the to be due to a of the interposed object by streams of charged moving from the of the at a very high such are now spoken of as in such as were on by these are considered to move with a equal to about one tenth the of light working later with highly exhausted named this stream of rays and found that those rays also existed outside the he that they pass through some to ordinary light could excite on and could act on sensitive plates one year later about the end of that along with those proper there were by such high other rays having some properties these he named x rays one essential physical difference consists in the failure of a to these x rays whilst rays are ao nor can x rays be either reflected or thus in contrast to the which consist of what may be termed a x rays are true ethereal these x rays are produced by the of the rapidly moving on any in their path in the aa represented in fig they were produced on the glass wall of the wherever it was struck by the rays proceeding from the that was in the form of a flat whilst the was in form made important and essential alterations in and on his plan are constructed all x ray of the present day the was by him made of form so as to the rays proceeding from it to the centre of the and near that point was introduced a called the or this ib set at an angle of is degrees to the of the so as to throw the main part of the x rays to one side of the practical x ray work this device rendered the study and employment of x ray effects much more precise since the rays proceed from a definite point or small area of the fig represents the x ray as designed by the figure being drawn from an original model in the possession of one of the authors fig represents the form of x ray made at the present day properties of x rays of the physical properties of x rays little need be said the property upon which depends their use in medicine as a aid is that of penetrating many to ordinary light the degree of penetration with the of the opposing substance thus shadows are cast of the different and from the normal may be detected bone being than muscular or other soft offers greater resistance to the rays hence it casts a deeper shadow and alterations in its as in will influence the shadow cast while such as will do so more but to the naked eye x rays are not visible and such interference with them not hence two other properties are brought into that of rendering certain such as the of and and that of acting upon plates the intensity and of the shadow cast on a screen by a certain will depend upon the nature of the body or substance interposed between the screen and the source of the rays and so likewise will depend the image impressed on a plate exposed for a suitable time the effect of x rays on living exposed to them is discussed in the section on i the x ray of types and of x ray are many and varied but variations are of secondary import and all to the general plan designed by as mentioned in the remarks on the of the x ray much depends on the degree of existing in the under observation this attained by means of a pump and completed usually by passage of can be adjusted within certain limits by the maker at the time of manufacture and a may thus be made to suit any set of conditions a in which the exhaustion has not been carried very far is spoken of as of low or soft whilst a more thoroughly exhausted is by contrast of high hard or a soft as compared with a harder one passage of an electric current with a lower motive force e m f in the circuit produces quantity of x rays rays which possess higher power rays of lower penetration by penetration is meant the relative power of the rays produced to pass through objects interposed in their path th s rays from a soft will with difficulty penetrate bone and if exposed to such rays the larger bones of the body will cast very deep shadows on the other hand a soft will reveal detail of structure in the smaller bones which practical x ray work would be entirely by the more penetrating rays from a hard suitable for thus the degree of with its power of penetration will indicate the value of a for any purpose and results will depend largely on the judicious choice of a it is well therefore to have in use several of varying degrees of hardness and to let each be reserved for uses suitable to its | 28 |
special powers observation of nature of and quality of rays the quality of the x rays produced is above to depend upon the nature of the from which they are produced hence it is very important to observe the nature of a during operation the colour in the both of the in front of the and of the behind that plane according to the hardness but this is too indefinite to give practical indication of other than gross differences in a acting properly the in front of the should show a bright apple green while the behind should be free from in a soft the is intensely green and uniform while the gas in the a faint plainly seen behind the in a hard the is thin and grey green in tint while irregular flickering green spots are seen on the walls of the the penetration or power dependent directly on the hardness may be measured by several methods a by observing the shadow cast on a screen by a hand interposed between that and the x ray the shadow cast by the bones in to that cast by the rest of the hand in direct to the hardness of the this is at the best but a rough relative test and is not to be recommended as such repeated exposure of the s hand may lead to a serious by or an instrument made on the same principle as the the x ray for the ot the blood in this the power of the to penetrate a metal of uniform but varying thickness is observed and compared with a standard the instrument ot consists of a thin central of silver surrounded by a ring of by steps in thickness from to for use hold this up bo aa to the rays from a observe she shadow cast on a screen and note the or step by which is produced a shadow of similar to that of the standard in the centre the being numbered according to their thickness the higher will correspond to harder of this have been introduced some of them of value hut all are similar in principle f on the equivalent spark g ap more dependence in practical work is placed than on all other methods of indicating or hardness or softness of when an x ray is connected to an in he ordinary way the discharge of the induced current may place along two alternative paths as is in the figure fig discharge way of the x ray produces the special phenomena pin the discharge by the other path across the gap between the two points of the takes the form of a series of sparks the current in will practical x ray work always take the path of least resistance the discharge gap is at will by moving the points nearer or farther apart and the resistance offered to discharge across these points will vary directly with the air distance between them while a is in operation if the points at first far apart be gradually a position will be reached at which discharge takes place through the air between the points in preference to passing through the if discharge is taking place across the points and they are gradually drawn apart then after passing the above position discharge will cease across the points and will take place c x fig through the x ray this distance between the points called the equivalent spark gap or alternative path the resistance and consequent nature of the in the distance between the discharge points care must be observed that the points are not allowed to come into direct contact so as to make a closed circuit for under such circumstances the might be badly by the heavy discharge of current permitted the arrangement is sometimes called a or spark and the hardness of a is by a number corresponding to the distance noted which the x ray distance is indicated on the sliding rod of the discharge gap with an equivalent spark of to inches are soft to inches are medium above inches are hard for purposes of comparison it is necessary that the or points of the spark gap should be uniform in form and dimensions since the same current will discharge across the at a greater distance apart if their opposing points be sharp than if they be rounded more in this is observed on the continent but all workers in this country should also adopt the standard of two of in to prevent when using a hard it is well to leave the spark gap only a little wider than the working distance of the otherwise if the becomes too hard there is no alternative path provided and the current if pushed will pass between the of the through the air outside or seek a shorter path from the to the outside by piercing the glass this will destroy the thereby rendering the useless and repair is very difficult if occur the will be seen to change rapidly and violet light to appear while production of x rays entirely ceases quantity of x rays the quantity of rays produced must be taken into consideration as well as the quality and depends on a number of more or less these determine the amount of passing through the and in direct consequence determine the amount of x produced they include and of current supplied and of interruption action of and nature of the x ray most of these are under direct control of the but in practice is difficult to maintain and even with careful variations occur also as will be practical x ray work later the x ray may alter considerably in nature during a single operation thus it is very difficult from any or all of those to estimate quantity of x and time standards of exposure based upon them as are for long for purposes they may indeed be dangerous | 28 |
only by noting the actual current passing at any moment through a in action or by noting the actual effect or otherwise of produced can one judge the quantity of x rays and calculate their probable effect none of our present methods of measuring the quantity of or its effect are wholly satisfactory by watching the register of a inserted in the circuit the production of rays can for ordinary purposes be best measured and the time of exposure for any desired effect judged if this record to vary during the operation a time average may be taken or by of the current supplied to the the amount passing through the may be kept constant since from a soft a greater quantity of rays is produced it is of importance to observe any softening of the during exposure this is of special importance in work since action seems to depend for its intensity directly on the quantity of in the exposure this change corresponding to a fall of electric resistance in the will be indicated by a rise in the reading of the and of the will be indicated by a fall in the reading where a effect is desired at one exposure as for in treatment of it is pre eminently important that the degree of exposure should be carefully measured for the margin of safety between and a serious is narrow for this purpose s are very serviceable though by no means deserving to be considered as a final standard these are exposed to the rays during the actual exposure and by change directly measure the quantity of and indicate the probable effect con the x ray ii of of thickly on small of paper the on exposure to x rays alter in colour from a yellow to a brown the change is to the effect of the exposure thus by comparison with a standard tint the can determine from the when the desired degree of exposure has been reached the conditions to be observed in using these will be found described in the section dealing with p at the meeting of the british medical association at a was described which the of the current passing in the circuit the effect is of course so that the amount of gas and measured in a will bear a direct to the current which has effected its this is a very ingenious device and well merits attention but for we feel that we should like to understand more fully the of x ray before we depend on any other than that directly made of the effect of the in question changes in x ray by use h by repeated use an x ray becomes harder this is due to a currents and b escape or of from the interior of the a the formation and of currents are i discussed later when fall to be considered meanwhile we note that currents may in the secondary winding of the and pass through the as discharge in a reversed direction in their passage these currents tear from the fine which or from the contents of the and thus increase the degree of presence of such currents may be noted in the action of the since they produce a flickering of the specially noticeable in the dark practical x ray work due to this action the of a subjected to such adverse influence becomes blackened by deposit of finely in contrast with the violet tint due to change acquired by a guarded from currents to during correct operation of a the is generally made of which is found to resist such action more than any other metal tried h escape of may occur by piercing the glass of a impulse from within being so much greater than any pressure from without the degree of in the is thereby directly raised ii each operation there to be a a softening or under exceptional circumstances there may be a a a softening is noted when a is so that the becomes by the continual of the rays this has the effect of otherwise held bound by the metal and by the of these into the space of the the degree of is lowered if the be over driven this effect may become so marked as to reduce the equivalent spark gap to in a its condition should be observed by approaching the points of the or noting the reading of the if softening of the be indicated by a marked of the alternative spark gap or rise in the reading of the care must be observed that the does not receive injury or the patient be exposed to risk of over effect in such event it will be well to the amount of current employed or to give the time to cool in use the should never be allowed to get than indicated by a cherry red colour unless softening of the is desired for special effects as will be described later the x ray if the rays were to an point on the the metal would readily become by the heat therefore in practice the made of is placed a little to one side of the point and the x rays from a small circular area measuring between c d inch in to permit of a nearer approach to the true combined with prolonged use it has been suggested to make the of or on account of their greater hardness and but the expense and trouble in working of those are with the advantage to be gained by their use this point is further discussed later p the area on the is usually indicated by a slight of the metal the test running by the maker being sufficient to produce this effect and it should be looked to in selecting a if larger than inch in there will be lack of definition in shadows cast by the b ht of the may occur or | 28 |
softening process be delayed by the presence near the of an mass of metal such as in a such metal acts as a and holding bound to the adjoining inner surface of the the number free to occupy the space and thereby raises the degree of this effect may be by connecting to earth either the wire or the metal mass in question of x ray i addition of a third is one of the earliest and most common of the from the form designed by this serves as an placed opposite to the and is connected outside by a wire to the the stem of which passes through the wall in a line at right angles to the desired plane of the this arrangement is said to steady the action of the practical x ray work in a manner explained and also to its working life by the change in quality described above but its service is questionable in france and america it seems to be little used though in the german pattern of which is mainly followed in this country it is almost universal ii a er is given to than formerly changes temporary and permanent being thus delayed and the life of the prolonged originally of j inches in were commonly used now or inches is a common whilst are made of or inches and may become more general before choosing a of large however one must ascertain whether the internal of the are fig set farther apart for this distance may be limited by the power of the employed with a small say a inch size a with set far apart might soon become too for the full power of the to excite while a of smaller proportions under similar circumstances would permit and rays of sufficient penetration for all purposes with of proportions as ordinarily made we would suggest that with a inch a be used of or inches in with a inch a be used of or inches in with machines smaller are more serviceable one of or inches giving useful penetration the x ray of course makers could larger while maintaining the shorter distance between the but the two dimensions usually vary in proportion hence the above caution should be remembered iii a of some kind is added to almost all modern except the very low ones such an addition is an ultimate economy since it the effect of continued use and thereby the period of usefulness of the these when brought into action give off or substance whereby the number of in the interior of the x ray is increased and the degree of reduced they are set in action by heat produced either by electric discharge or by direct application of a flame to the a a small side containing a such as which gives off when heated may be attached in construction to the x ray when desired this is heated by a flame applied to the outside and gas is thereby driven off which passes into the main this early form is now by more convenient arrangements but the principle of such a side with some substance such as woven glass or metal may be connected to the main as in fig the substance is arranged at one end of the side and is traversed or surrounded by a to which when put in circuit sparks may discharge from an in the form of an at the end of the by such discharge heat is and the contents of the substance are thereby caused to and part to be into the of the larger c action of such as the above may be attained by to the one end of a stiff wire and arranging the other end of this wire at a suitable distance from the of the practical x ray work x ray in fig then when the becomes of a certain degree of thereby offering greater to discharge than ia desired pass from the to the wire and thence current will the side there will he till by their presence the of the main is reduced to the point at which discharge takes place through it in preference to jumping the arranged air gap between the and the side wire thia ia a very convenient arrangement if carefully used but the utility of all such depending upon a pre supply of is limited for after some time all the available gas been from the spaces and there is no means of the supply hence the to be of further service d do not depend upon any such limited supply and are therefore preferred by us for any in continuous working these depend upon the property of certain becoming when heated to the property of so called a slender thin walled of one of at the outer end but open at the inner ia sealed through the glass wall of the x ray so as to project the x ray a short distance into the and for about inches outside this may form part of the as shown in fig a or b or be sealed into a projecting side piece of the as in fig on the projecting part of the being heated by the flame of a spirit lamp or gas passes into the interior of the fig a and by addition of its the as desired the metal employed must possess the same of with heat as glass otherwise the would be impossible but fortunately such are is the metal commonly employed but its action is somewhat slow on the other hand fig b is too sensitive and the process is difficult to where it is employed a compound of the two has been recently tried and gives very satisfactory results with careful working these metal are very easily and should always have over them a protecting practical x ray work cap as shown in fig b which should be removed | 28 |
only when it is desired to excite the an x ray should be fairly soft when new and should never be allowed to become very hard but by a brief of even a slow at frequent intervals it should be kept in good working condition of fig return of fig iv means to prevent over of the are various a heavy metal as in s illustrated here serve well the increased mass of metal taking much longer to become hot than the ordinary thin employed for the first twenty or thirty such are since the x ray they soften rapidly and to a marked degree this is due evidently to the present in the metal but after a time these become exhausted then the works steadily and will stand long runs with heavy currents very satisfactorily we would suggest that a new of this type be used for purposes for a time its condition being carefully noted meanwhile before reliance is placed on it for work b water cooled have the and stem surrounded by a water jacket which the fig of the special attention must be paid to the position of the so as to have the water in the jacket always in contact with the thus the range of use of such is limited fig shows in a design allowing of to suit the position of the c air cooled of similar principle are a recent and in our experience seem to be a very efficient arrangement for the purpose being very constant in action and capable of being used in any position their price is so far somewhat for ordinary use and more experience of their working is desirable practical x ray work before finally judging them a good example of this is the as in fig a v the metal parts have been modified in ways as mentioned earlier to avoid and damage from over since the main cost of a is in the labour of manufacture and this is the same for whatever material be employed it is obvious that the best suitable material should be insisted upon in all however their design or construction may be modified to lessen their price the purity of employed is of prime importance a especially in the case of the and its supporting stem for which has proved to be pre eminently suitable much of the value of a depends upon the construction of the since the quality of the seems to depend largely upon the stopping power of the material opposed to the rays probably in no case are the rays all stopped by their first on the surface of the but some rays penetrate to deeper before being stopped and giving origin to the x rays thus are produced as it were from successive rows of and this would seem to explain the origin from one of a collection of rays of qualities those rays produced by the the x ray of rays at the first row of are of the highest degree of penetration and probably also effect of all the tried possesses the highest stopping power and the heavy of pure employed in some of the most expensive give beautiful effects but pure is very liable to and probably the best all round are now made of with a proportion of pure thus stopping power with resistance to fig b air cooled x ray methods of nature of i softening may be necessary to an old or to any for a special purpose requiring a lower degree of penetration this may be effected in various ways a use of as described above is the method in the absence of a b the for some hours in an oven at a high temperature may somewhat soften a permanently c laying the aside for a year or more some degree of softening d the carefully by the flame of a spirit lamp or before a fire it temporarily but on the previous hardness is a may be thus softened while in the live circuit that is with current passing or tending to pass through it thus natural softening may be hastened or the reduced to allow discharge through the to commence in such a case the practical x ray work spirit lamp employed should be held on a long handle so as to protect the from shock or x ray burn care must be taken in so a that no part is over heated as a may be readily produced in the softened glass by the pressure outside acting against the much reduced pressure within all softening processes should be carefully regulated and must not be carried too far since is and always more or less injurious to the ii should never be called for where a stock of is kept as advised and where due care is exercised in use of the or in any softening process called for where under special conditions may be necessary it is best done by a sending the current through the in the direction for a short time the effect being similar to that described as causing the gradual of through continual use b s method by an open or sleeve placed over an whereby the ordinary softening function of that arrangement is said to be reversed and drawn out of the is unsatisfactory in practical use this method is illustrated in fig c the side represented in fig is also said to be available for the purpose of to do so it is advised to remove the positive wire from the of the x ray and to connect it to the at that end of the side the negative wire being connected to the as in ordinary of the x ray the side wire of the must be well separated from the and current then passed through we have not used this method frequently nor do we recommend it on the rare | 28 |
the other practical x ray work action produces an interrupted tor supply to an but i experience though this arrangement is good for or for work the may occasionally fail thereby the of the current may become reversed and the irregular rays produced in an x ray spoil an exposure for purposes along with a a to protect the x from such currents this break may however form a satisfactory means of an current c s or cell is a simple and valuable device for currents for medical purposes since it has no moving parts and requires little attention such a cell consists of an active of i sources of supply in a suitable solution in some of common salt in some of along with an indifferent of lead or iron the containing cell in many designs supplying the latter the action of the cell depends upon the peculiarity of that as it allows a current to pass freely but as it high resistance this resistance is due doubtless to whereby a thin of is formed on the surface of the metal the other phase or direction of current easily breaks through this but up to a certain the cell allows only that phase to pass by suitable combination of explained later both phases may be and a current obtained an supply of the liquid will interfere with the of a cell if the temperature rises above f but short of that those may do a lot of heavy work especially if arranged as advised on p and shown in there for x ray work the current produced is not satisfactory either led direct to the or passed through an for charging from an main however these work very satisfactorily in the note on already referred to will be found a description of the arrangement in our hospital work this was the original plan adopted and it served fairly well for about two years until pressure of work induced us to it for the less troublesome plan of a fig represents a set of as for sale but efficient may be made very by anyone willing to take a little trouble for description of such a cell and other practical points see p d are said by some to work satisfactorily with current with an cell in series the nature and use of this type of is described later on p and we highly commend it under suitable conditions but we do not consider an main one of those conditions practical x ray work a number of other so called have been designed to render an current but in our experience none of those have proved of practical value ii b request we have io the following section dealt with in more detail than with most of the other apparatus bo aa to furnish a ia their practical are valuable as sources of direct supply where is of prime importance where there is an source of supply bat not convenient for direct connection by to the x ray in occasional cases where supply is available but not of a nature for direct use where an x ray is chosen mainly with a view to the advantage of will depend largely upon convenient opportunity of them since they can by no means be made to produce unless in the degree to which that has been previously supplied to them elsewhere in this chapter and we suggest possible arrangements of a nature where the set must be self sources of supply for all purposes with such apparatus for production of energy it will probably be advantageous in many cases to combine the use of these may be charged from the source and kept in readiness for immediate use at any time whereas it may be inconvenient to bring the into action when current is required for bedside work are ordinarily the source of supply worthy of consideration though the advent of a form of machine would alter the definite character of this statement the method of charging for such use will depend upon local conditions of the in the absence of a convenient direct supply for a permanent may be used after being charged elsewhere but if much work is to be done it is better in our opinion to some form of apparatus to provide a direct supply this may be understood when we come to speak of the process of for if a source be inconvenient then the chances are that the will not be so frequently or regularly as they ought to be in order to preserve their under such circumstances also transport of the renders this a troublesome and costly method for regular working here again however the use of may be combined with the of a source of supply where that may be more conveniently or brought into action only at times where a supply of any nature is available are eminently serviceable to render the energy available as it may be required for of an regular supply may prove of service as in the method for a time employed by us to an current described on p in most cases we think some of the other means suggested will prove more but each case must be considered in relation to its own special conditions usually where the use of is indicated it will i practical x ray work be necessary for the x ray to their and to see personally that they are maintained in a state of this personal responsibility may be if the be sent to an or to a where expert attention may be expected but such as we have said is a most inconvenient and costly mode of working further it is very frequently under circumstances which render it impossible to obtain expert assistance that will be found most useful the being thus directly responsible we have on request decided to enter more fully into the questions of charging and | 28 |
working than into most of the other details dealt with in this small work for men in army or navy service we trust this will be especially useful are often spoken of somewhat loosely as of this they are in effect for after receiving an appropriate charge of they may be kept for some time and thereafter a discharge of obtained from them but the term is more properly they might be termed energy or of energy an current passed through an cell produces changes in the of the cell which thereafter stores energy in a form represented by the force the to return to their former condition an external circuit being completed between the of the cell so charged its more or less gradually resume their former condition and the energy thus appears in the form of effects in the circuit the changes referred to are somewhat complicated and we do not here attempt a full explanation each cell as in fig contains several lead plates connected alternately to the positive and negative of the cell and all are in and well covered by during charging a current of is sent through the cell from a suitable source of supply by action there are produced from the quantities of free sources of supply and the former appears on the plates connected with the positive pole them gradually into of lead whilst the appears on the negative plates them to a mass of lead actions on the lead having proceeded as far as possible the escape in from the thereby indicating the completion of the charging in those of and are reversed the plates return to their previous condition and the ite original strength thus the process may be repeated any number of times in the same if due precautions he observed some of those precautions we will now discuss before the methods of charging from various of supply for x ray work are generally arranged with our in each box as in fig the are connected in series that is the negative pole of one is connected to the positive pole of the cell adjoining it leaving at one end of the a free positive and at the other a free negative the e m f of each cell being fully such a box of four will give when fully charged at least three such boxes are as a rule employed thus obtaining an e m f of for use the number of plates but in each cell of those we as in that shown in fig there are seven plates three positive and four negative the positive plates are of a dark practical x ray work colour while the negative are of a grey the in which they are should be of a specific gravity of attained by adding part of pure h so to parts of water the should when cold be tested by a supplied for the purpose and should be adjusted if necessary by addition of more h so or water according as the indicated is below or above the desired standard the box the and its divisions are usually lined with lead and little or buttons of wood or glass are placed between the plates to prevent them coming in contact during transport if adjoining plates were allowed to touch each other while the cell was charged they would be rapidly destroyed by the strong discharge of over each cell of a set is a or wooden cover with a blow hole in the centre which hole must be when the are being moved but left open when the cell is being charged each box has its painted the positive red and the negative black the capacity of an depends mainly and directly upon the quantity of lead in its plates and is expressed in hours thus hours that an can discharge for sixty hours for thirty hours etc ing in ing an the wire from the positive pole of the source must be connected to the positive that painted red and the negative wire to the negative painted black it is of prime importance that no mistake be made in this connecting for if done the will rapidly discharge and may be totally destroyed a ready method of ing the relative of the two wires leading from any source of supply is to lay them about inch apart on a piece of paper at the positive pole is produced a red colour and at the negative pole a blue colour the rate of charging may be indicated while in process by an in the circuit but usually the means of charging is arranged for a certain rate which is thus fixed sources of supply the number of somewhat for different types of but should always be in relation to the capacity of the the maker usually marks on each set as sent out the proper rate of charge and discharge and these should never be exceeded or the life of the will be considerably as a general rule the charging current expressed in ought not to exceed one fifth and the current one fourth of the number expressing the capacity in thus a re hour should not be charged with a current of more than nor discharge more than before to charge see that the plates are well covered by the and if the be covered or sealed for transport see that the blow hole is left open during the process of charging with a knowledge of the rate and duration of discharge of the since last one may calculate the time required with a known rate of charging to restore the total hours of its capacity but little if any harm can be done by and full time should always be allowed for completion of the process a ready method of telling when a cell is fully charged is to listen for the hissing sound produced by | 28 |
easily observed thus at one lamp takes j in other words lets pass on to charge the one candle power lamp will take as also will two candle power sources of supply lamps in parallel so that by arranging the power and number of lamps placed in parallel an may be charged at any desired rate fig an arrangement with four lamps in parallel the positive of the being connected direct to the positive pole of the supply while the negative has an and the lamp main supply circuit r lamps in parallel y n n i harry w u in series fig resistance interposed in its connection with the negative pole of the main any wire of a pair connecting a lamp with the main circuit may be tapped for charging an by cutting it at some point and connecting the severed ends to the proper respective but a more convenient method is to make or obtain some permanent arrangement of lamps as in fig this may be connected with the main by a when required and from its connections passed to the with lamps in circuit the of the connecting as regards may be judged from practical x ray work the of their when connection is correct the lamp or lamps will burn dimly since the current of the will be opposed to that of the main if the connections be reversed the lamp will burn very brightly since the current will then that of the but the method by use of paper previously described may prove more definite once determined the fig of the arrangement employed should be marked for future guidance where a is employed it should be of a type thus making always the same connection with the main sources of supply the ordinary catch type may be inserted in either of two and the of the wires from it will differ according to the position hence with such the position must be indicated by corresponding marks on the d or the of the wires must be tested before h time of using fig a permanent wall board that would involve a of trouble when once the of supply ia there as well as rate of charging and there is also inserted an cut out b current cannot be used directly for but some device must be interposed render the current many devices have i suggested and employed thus to the current p are mentioned and some described earlier in this p but for the purpose of charging we need only describe the device known and already deferred to as s cell or in fig on p is illustrated a set of those tells a made for sale and on the preceding page will be found brief explanation of the action of the device fig ii shows a more simple arrangement of connected an but efficient maybe made from simple material by any one for his own use thus a cell may be m from a practical x ray work large jam jar containing a strong solution of and arranged ae in accompanying sketch fig into the jar an of of about the thickness of a pencil and a second of thin iron such as iron from to inches broad each being about inches long each is shown suspended in the solution by being passed through a bar of wood or other suitable material which rests on the top of simple for a an in b of c pencil of the jar the being made firm by passing through a cork and the iron being in at the top of each is a screw for connecting wires we may repeat that the action of such a cell depends upon a property of also whereby as it allows current to pass freely but as it offers great resistance iron is a convenient material for the other since it is not acted upon by the the solution should be a one and it is to use water in preparing it as seem to sources of supply the action by escape of the liquid becomes and tend to form to this a little weak solution should be added occasionally each three or four months the should be taken apart the solution and and any deposit on the plates or cell scraped off in action a certain amount of heat is in the cell and if the temperature rise above f the falls thus the size of cell and quantity of should be to the quantity of current passed through the cell but the should be kept small in area the cell should be placed between the lamp resistance and the with the connected to the positive of the latter a cell of about the dimensions described should act well with a current of passed through a candle power lamp where current supplied is at a higher it will be profitable for regular use to pass it first through a whereby pressure will be reduced to and the increased otherwise two in series may be employed to deal with the heavier though this is not so efficient using only one such cell or two in series it will be readily seen that half of the current will really be lost since only one of its two periods or phases is to the also the back motive force of the phase suppressed will rapidly heat the and wear down the fig however a plan of connecting up two whereby both phases of the current may be the receiving alternately the single periods or phases as allowed to pass by the by following out the connections as in the sketch and noted under it the action will be more clearly understood than by verbal description besides almost the full energy of the current supplied this arrangement the of the and the wear of the since one or other path is always | 28 |
open to the current and the back motive force in each cell is thus each will be charged at half the rate correspond practical x ray work ing to the power of the lamp used thus with a lamp in series with a supply each will receive about the above arrangement that two or more will be charged at one time for a single an arrangement of four is possible arranged after the manner of a bridge but for x ray work more than one will practically always be in use one ae passes fi c i a to r g from ni to c passes from c t returns by ij and a to c iii are of little il any practical use in x ray work the requisite current can indeed be obtained if a sufficient number of be connected and for such a purpose or s each with an e m f of about will probably be found most suitable but it is hard to conceive of any set of circumstances in which it would not be much more convenient and efficient to employ some other source of supply sources of supply iv machine a electric machine briefly termed a a valuable of supply where such must be in the absence of or independent of a general supply thus on board a ship in which electric light is not in in isolated or country districts or specially adapted for field service this type of supply has much in its favour the may be to current suitable for the special purpose in view and some amount of will be possible for of speed though for each there is a rate of speed at which the greatest of action is obtained the choice of a special form of driving power depend mainly on the of the where there is a pre supply of power with sufficient margin the should if possible be driven from that either by a direct chain or belt drive or by way of an intervening whereby of speed may be obtained if that be desired where no power supply exists and the is to be stationary a small gas or oil engine will usually be the power for driving special circumstances may make a steam engine where a sufficient j practical x ray work power is available and convenient an economical drive may i be obtained from a water thia plan ia highly wherever possible where is a main as for field service various special may be employed the itself be of as light a pattern aa may be with and may be constructed of sections if difficulties of transport make that advisable driving power may be derived from one of the engines or now so generally employed in transport or a special might readily be designed to transport the and other x ray and also serve as tor the when bo required an ol thia description recently designed for field service in the french army is illustrated in fig a till more may be designed for driving by horse power as in a and ii where men are readily available as in the services a gear may be arranged similar to the driving gear of a in emergency a serviceable drive may be obtained by supporting an actual frame and connecting the by belt to the back wheel sources of supply v machine or influence machines form a possible aod for purposes an excellent source ol supply where ia of no they the advantage of being self contained for with the power required to drive it one of these machines can supply current direct to the x ray addition or of other apparatus for the b reason they are as a rule simple to use though at times somewhat uncertain in action practical x ray work for work they produce brilliant steady of a suitable and are for this purpose excellent for a so requires a long exposure but very good are produced if such work be attempted a had better be employed absence of reverse currents and the cf the life of the considerably as mentioned at the beginning of this chapter the machine is a favourite source in other countries and in this country there is a probability of an improved form coming into favour rapidly when it is introduced as we expect it to i shortly at the present stage however it would not be profitable to do more here than refer readers to works on where those machines are specially described and considered iii apparatus or etc to this chapter will be found an explanation of the action of an with break and instructions for use which we have by request dealt with in some detail for of an x ray we have seen to be required an electric current of very high or motive force no source other than a machine directly supplies current of high therefore unless in the case of such machine a must be interposed between the source and the x ray for this purpose an is ordinarily used but the current supplied to an must be a regularly interrupted current and to produce such interruption an piece of apparatus is usually employed known as the or break these two pieces of apparatus and should always be considered and designed to suit each other different breaks produce very different of interruption and no single can be expected to work with widely varying rate of interruption thus a wound to suit a low rate cannot be by each current sent to it by a break giving a much higher rate of interruption and a wound to suit a high rate of interruption cannot respond to the longer periods of allowed by a more slowly acting break the duration of each contact or make during which current is allowed to pass to the is also determined by the practical x ray work | 28 |
and may be varied according to the result desired for this also the should be adapted an important point in the action of an may be here noted namely the break of the current must be as sharp and sudden as it can possibly be made many workers have made the mistake of applying to the same of varying construction and rate of interruption and have been prone to judge the according to the result obtained possibly failure to the construction of an rather than to the true reason of between it and the employed a may be badly also by using with it a break different from that with which it was designed to work thus by a break which passed a much heavier current than the break originally used we had a seriously injured and we know of at least one london hospital where several were rendered useless by such a change made the choice of and depends upon the demand likely to be made on them that is upon the nature of the work to be done for or screen examination we wish a steady hence rapidity of interruption will be the for the same high rate is not essential but will lessen the requisite length of exposure since those two classes of work are usually combined we may say that for such work a fairly high rate of interruption is essential up to per minute in on the other hand there is no especial call for rapid interruption and a rate of per minute will be more than sufficient for such work the duration of exposure will here frequently be much in excess of those employed in the other classes of work varying from five to twenty five minutes so that unless the apparatus be designed to stand such prolonged runs it may be unable to withstand the strain where one or other class of work distinctly the should be designed to suit that work where neither a compromise must be struck unless apparatus the may be some recent are made with arrangements for to suit varying conditions and with an of wide margin of rate may be made to suit the work in hand but never so as a designed specially for conditions with a knowledge then of the nature of the work to be done the may settle what rate of interruption will be most suitable and he will have a built to suit but first he will settle on the likely to fulfil the conditions op are in type many and various they may be as or including a type b or jet type the familiar op s or one of its more recent such as the is still used occasionally on a as such arrangement is serviceable where is of prime importance the rate of interruption is with such however greatly limited about per minute being a nor can currents of other than moderate strength be safely used say about as their action with stronger currents is not enough to the the slow rate of interruption makes their use very unsatisfactory for screen work since it produces an unsteady illumination the smaller currents alone long for work despite these we have obtained quite satisfactory with such an arrangement where circumstances required transport of apparatus to the bedside with this class of break used for a high rate of interruption should not be aimed at since with that there is apt to be insufficient current passed into the and is not attained see further p fig will recall practical x ray work the ot this form of attached to the of the various should be attended to and the kept always in good order to lull in working the or hammer break is still largely employed in both army and navy services but for of best and especially for the heavier currents now found so advantageous it seems advisable that these breaks should be replaced by some more recent form for the benefit of workers whose practice may be confined to or chiefly concerned with such form of apparatus we have by request to this chapter some notes on the connections and working of a with break fro a the break makes and breaks contact by means of a rod alternately dipping into and being withdrawn from a of from which a connection passes to complete the circuit the is covered by a of liquid such as or so as more effectually to the sparks produced in action of the break there are two main designs of this type of break one with a perpendicular and the other each being driven by a small on a circuit independent of the circuit of supply to the the perpendicular is worked by a motion attached directly to the shaft of the it allows of simple apparatus and exact of the of dip and of contact na well as of the rate of speed this is a simple and straightforward and does not readily get out of order it is also easily cleaned so that an instrument maker need seldom if ever be called m to assist in its continued working a high rate of speed cannot be attained about to and the ik is somewhat noisy in action but for combined work it on the whole very well the design of break usually associated with the name of has an inclined on the dipping blade or blades are fixed those blades make and break contact with the while the with this break a higher rate of speed can be attained than with the perpendicular but the of a belt drive as in the usual form is a disadvantage while the is less and may require skilled assistance more frequently to keep right more recent forms have the set on an inclined base and the attached to a direct of its shaft as shown in fig either of | 28 |
these breaks serve very well for moderate currents and tor medium of interruption when at rest the or of a break may k arrested at the end of its dip that is in the and if the current were suddenly on it would practical x ray work pass direct to the of the and do much damage hence it ia important to see always that the is in action before the supply current is on this is secured in onr as described later by a special form of the action of the break gradually some degree of of the and the covering or these materials require renewal more or less of the can always be recovered and with this in view will be found to be the material for a as making the process of recovery much less unpleasant spirit is commonly used but it is better to use spirit for though more expensive it requires changing much less frequently and further has less action on the metal parts the level of the liquid must be kept well above the highest point of travel of the or otherwise the liquid may causing an alarming if not dangerous explosion to clean the should be allowed to settle the clearer spirit settling out on top off and the heated gently in a retort with attached apparatus p whereby the remaining spirit ia and the recovered for further use another method of cleaning the is to wash it in bu open jar placed under a tap and let the settle i for a week i to avoid this inconvenience many recent types ol break are constructed ao as to employ gas as a b the or jet type of break has an action indicated somewhat by its name when such a break is set in motion a jet of is by action from a central stem and makes contact with a rapid f of of metal having between them intervals of material the succession of makes and breaks is obtained by a motion of either the central stem carrying the jet with jt or of the while the jet is in a fixed in the earlier aud more common designs speed and rate of interruption be directly regulated by the current sent to the driving the metal can be varied in number to secure a similar and these ii are further made of a shape so that al may vary the width of metal exposed to th and consequently the duration of contact the surface j practical x work of the is in this form of break as in the type covered by some and spark being here usually employed with this e of break at rest there no danger of the continuous current being accidentally passed direct to the since the jet by the contact is made is not formed until some rate of speed is got up a higher rate of interruption may be obtained with a break than a but for lower of those breaks are not good for a time the action at a suitable rate is very satisfactory but the break is somewhat easily put out of order and requires frequent cleaning which is difficult and dirty process more recent forms are in construction and more easy to clean when the earlier forms as in fig are driven by belt connection from the and the slipping of this may cause much inconvenience more recent jet breaks are driven by some arrangement directly connected to the parts thus in s form in fig four and before entering of the e since the rate of the strength whereas that is with a heavy on the whole a of being apparatus are situated on the cover of the through the of these the current passes the interrupting on its way to thi this is a doubtful of interruption cannot be varied independent of current supplied to the or rice a latitude desirable under certain conditions load the action is somewhat noisy but this i instrument and has the further less than half the price of the older forms f in a recent called the break very heavy currents quoted as at may be passed through such a break if desirable this is a decided advantage though the price is somewhat higher than for the i ordinary form a recent london make illustrated in fig is driven a shaped of soft iron which is mounted on the upper end ot the jet shaft this is by influence the successive and of the lore ot the opposite the end ot which the is set in this break the jet producing portion is in an air tight metal filled with coal gas or practical x ray work which acts as a to cover the points o contact instead of the usual liquid this the tion of and consequent inconvenience of frequent cleaning the speed may be regulated somewhat by the position of the relative to the thus requiring no special but this of speed is not thoroughly satisfactory the break is quiet in action even with heavy currents is of comparatively moderate price and we reckon it one of the best breaks on the market to avoid the starting by hand which necessity may be somewhat inconvenient the makers also supply a small independent by which the break may be driven and continue in whether the larger be in or out of circuit breaks commonly known as s breaks from the name of their are now used as specially suitable for the heavier currents desirable for rapid work with these breaks a much more rapid rate of interruption can be obtained and they are capable of currents heavier than any x ray at present made can stand for more than a few seconds they may be used with current as mentioned earlier or with continuous current but work more with the latter as the name these breaks depend upon the action | 28 |
of a current passing between in a liquid if one be of very small area the of gas formed tend to collect on it and thus interrupt the continuous passage of the current then almost these are dissipated and the current is again free to pass a regular succession of and of renders in this manner the current passed through the cell in character and the so obtained is much more rapid than with any form of mechanical in use in practice the of small area is the and is composed of while the consists of a lead plate of large area in is commonly used though apparatus other have been suggested as more suitable for certain purposes a call containing such and having in it two ae described represents the total of the break though many of have been introduced an arrangement which probably the utmost extent of consistent with and economy in regular work might consist of a large sized glass cell having in the a of from with lead cover the bottom end of which a wire projects to an extent by a screw at its upper end and having further a in the form of a sheet of lead of suitable size the triple type illustrated in fig is now generally used as it a much wider range of and in combination with the winding of the than the single type just described as further the simplicity in of this form of break we represent in fig and describe one which may be made for himself by anyone who has even hat practical x ray work slight manual dexterity and that for a few pence or at most a few an ordinary or glass jar may be used as a containing the larger the better through the closed end of a test seal a short length of wire and into the to a height of inch or more through a wooden cover to the cell or in some other suitable manner as in fig c the test deeply in the and to make connection dip a wire from the home positive pole of the source of supply into the then bang over the edge of the cell a piece of sheet lead reaching to near the bottom of the and having a screw at its upper end to bind a connecting wire from the negative pole of the source and your break is complete a break so constructed we know from experience to work very satisfactorily and it can be renewed many times for the cost of one of the more elaborate breaks put on the market which will give little if any better results with breaks the of interruption will apparatus i vary according to the pressure of current supplied higher producing more rapid interruption by exposing a larger area of the to the the rate of interruption is reduced and by exposing less the rate is the increased area of exposure allows a higher to pass with the suspended from separate of wood glass or other material as shown in fig some of the action may be secured by moving the two to various distances apart for working with this form of break an with short winding should be employed since the of longer prevents the full effect of the break s special reaching the x ray the of the should in all cases with these breaks be put out of circuit in action and especially with heavy currents of high pressure breaks are very noisy so the whole cell and should be in felt to the sound and the break should be kept in a separate closed room where possible with heavy work the becomes very soon heated and operation of the break is thereby embarrassed and later stopped a cell of large capacity should therefore be employed to delay the effect and that may be set into a larger vessel containing cold water if continuous heavy work is expected the require no cleaning which is a great convenience for use with currents of small quantity and low as from these breaks are they require for efficient working a current of about or more will not work under and work best between and unless for specially strong currents indeed such a break is not advisable since its action is not enough to commend it for ordinary purposes for i hich other breaks may serve it is important that an should be connected correctly the to the positive pole of the source if connected otherwise the will gradually practical x ray work or possibly if thin and the will not work well if the direction of be correct the sparks in the have a red if wrong they have a colour paper can of course give us the necessary indication before connection is made the positive pole making a red stain on the moist paper as described in the section on the charging of on the continent are used commonly but in with specially made to them the chief check to their use here is the heavy amongst most of which can stand the heavy current for a very brief period have been already referred to in the introduction to this chapter and some of the conditions of their working we do not propose to enter into any detail of their theory or construction since those will be found sufficiently described in any modern text book on a few notes on their practical working are to this chapter for the convenience of workers not familiar with them the forms however a most important part of an x ray and it is advisable that every should make himself thoroughly acquainted with its theory and practical working for our present purpose it is sufficient to recall that its function speaking is to raise or apparatus convert the e m f of the current supplied to a suitable for the x ray the degree of this | 28 |
function may be appreciated when we note that to produce a inch spark across the points of a requires a of about this increase in is obtained at a corresponding loss in and the product of the two expressed as in the current derived from the should approach that in the current supplied a slight loss being inevitable no satisfactory method exists however whereby the of a may be accurately measured the action of a is commonly expressed in terms of the length of spark which it is able to send across the of its secondary when the is supplied with a suitable exciting current but this expression is formerly indeed it was the custom to consider the as with the power of a to do good x ray work and a spark of from to inches was considered a for a good x ray but we now recognise that a with a spark of to inches may be capable of satisfying all our and we pay more attention to the nature or thickness of the spark thus in our hospital the gives us the full spark length with a current of but we commonly use to and may pass as much as at an odd time the additional current does not the spark but its intensity or this we may say is designed to work with at the rate of per minute this being considered a mean rate for usual work there is of course a margin of reasonable above and below this rate with passing the break works on steadily with a regular dick dick but on approaching the sound becomes lower pitched and that the cannot or the of current supplied to it we have said that a great spark length is not essential for a good for x ray work it is indeed from a very long sparks it is difficult practical x ray work to obtain more than of current whereas with the shorter and winding suitable for shorter sparks we may obtain a current of to no presently made could stand that current for more than a few seconds so that alteration of in that direction is for the l resent limited in its utility long sparks are thin and a is now wanted for general use is a spark of moderate length but quality sometimes described as flame like some recent have their made in separate sections so that a greater or less length of wire may be put in circuit according to the strength of current to the a shorter length as represented by a less number of sections being employed for heavier currents the current sent from an through an x ray consists of a rapidly series of brief currents induced in the secondary circuit in with the of the current sent to the from the or break this secondary current will depend upon the strength of the current employed further upon the rate of of that current and as regards the mainly upon the relative of the and secondary it may be recalled that this effect is due to the of the current the suddenness of those individual as well as the duration of actual passage of current in the intervals will affect the character of the secondary current induced as already noted the break in the current produced by the must be as sharp and sudden as it can possibly be made at each make of the current a momentary current is induced in the secondary circuit in a direction opposite or to that in the and at each break there is induced a momentary direct current of greater power those direct currents at break are alone desired in the discharge of the for x ray purposes the currents as mentioned earlier being of effect the actual e m f s of the two induced currents are equal but the current at make is more slowly induced and apparatus this delay is increased by use of a while at break the secondary current is induced much more sharply thus the currents at break may be said to be in quality more impetuous and manifest themselves as sparks while those at make are more deliberate and fail to form sparks under ordinary circumstances where the of the current however the effect of these make or currents becomes noticeable in the of the x ray this effect is marked by a flickering in the of the ordinarily free from illumination a under such conditions is not for and rapidly in quality in the manner described in the section on changes during operation p to check off these currents some arrangement is frequently interposed in the secondary circuit between the and the of the x ray and for the best effect this should always be done such check is necessary with high with a current or with a very rapid series of a s or is the usual piece of apparatus so employed this consists as shown in fig of a of moderate degree of exhaustion having one end drawn out as a slender of the central space into the main space projects a of thick wire in the form of a and in the farthest part of the is the second formed by a slender rod of so long as the larger shaped acts as a the easily but to currents in the opposite direction it offers a high resistance if this be placed in proper relation to the x ray it will be readily seen how it will oppose the passage of the currents described whilst allowing easy passage to the direct currents desired for use in series with an x ray the correct setting may be remembered by noting that with the of the x ray should of course be towards the positive pole of the practical x ray work and the is interposed on that side fig the arrangement but in practice the should be | 28 |
interposed as in fig between the and the pillars otherwise the alternative spark will measure the resistance of the in addition to that of the x ray and thereby convey a false idea of the condition of the latter on a placed in the secondary circuit show that this action is more than and sou v fig experience in working also to the advantage of the device a should always be attached to the otherwise needless resistance may be opposed to the current an g ap as illustrated in fig may be interposed in the secondary circuit for the same purpose of cutting out currents and is so used commonly with machines for heavier currents as from this is a somewhat noisy working arrangement but such an arrangement as is in fig allows much more easy apparatus to suit the resistance of different x ray than does a by the point home til it the plate the gap may be by back the point the resistance can be increased gradually till the light in the that the current has ceased where of different hardness are used in succession this ready means of is of great value and its effect on the of a is often very striking i tbe use of the and in the secondary circuit of the has already been explained and the fig their arrangement during operation working of an with or hammer break since tbe of an depends in so a degree upon an intelligent understanding of its principle and construction we have on request decided to add here as in the case of some more and detailed instructions to workers we will not describe details of construction since those vary somewhat and are dealt with in a more or less way practical x ray work in most of medical aa well s in works on the external appearance doubtless familiar to ail our i readers is recalled by and fig the arrangement of i essential parts considering the current as entering at a it may be traced up the metal pillar g across points at h to the hammer j down the spring d and thence to the winding of the by that it is led round core aa then back to the other a the core an consisting ot a bundle of wires or thin sheets of soft iron becomes rapidly by influence of the current round it by force of attraction it draws the hammer j towards it and thus the two points at h this separation the flow of the current the core consequently loses its and the hammer j j apparatus by force of its spring d to former contact at h is thus restored current as before in the the core becomes again and this of events is repeated as often as the succession of make and break at h will allow the alternative path to the ee will be dealt with later in reference to the of the break the secondary winding which consists of many thousands of yards of very fine copper wire ia not in fig but its position is within the and are seen emerging at ff from which points connection ia made to the x ray following the of at each make of the fig current a momentary current is set up or induced in the secondary circuit in a direction opposite to that in the and at each break of the a momentary current ia induced in the secondary in the same direction as the thus in the secondary circuit ia set up a of currents in direction their depending upon the rate of interruption of the current the effect is by the presence of the iron core with alternate and which are in effect similar to rapid movements of a strong alternately toward and away from the secondary practical x ray work the e m f or of the secondary currents will depend upon and vary directly as the number of turns of wire in the the of the current and the suddenness of the break of the the strength quantity or following s law will vary directly with those and as the resistance of the secondary circuit a very long secondary winding may produce a very high e m f with discharge sparks of great length but its high resistance will prevent a great quantity of current passing and the sparks will be thin and thus the nature of the secondary winding must be decided according to the balance of those two deemed most suitable for the work to be undertaken the relation is not really so simple as here stated other it but discussion of those is not essential to a working understanding of the reference to the previous discussion of the most suitable current for exciting x ray on p will explain the interest and importance of this point th of the current is of course under our direct control use of very heavy currents consideration of special points concerning self of the winding but those do not come within the purpose of this section since such currents are by the use of a break with such a break it is said that a current of much more than cannot well be used since the will wear away too quickly and will have a tendency to stick thus the winding we have had good results with a current of and with careful working had little or no trouble but probably we were very near the margin of the safe limit for x ray work a should be supplied with about say at and the e m f supplied should be at least the break of the current should be as as possible the formation of a spark between the apparatus contact points as they separate prevents the break being really various of the of breaks have been devised to make the act of breaking contact as sudden as | 28 |
possible those are mentioned later but more important in effect is the addition of a usually situated under the and there in fig at ee it consists of a number of sheets of each from the adjoining sheets by of paper soaked in wax alternate sheets are connected up forming two sets one of which is connected to each pillar g and d of the and thus to different sides of the contact points at h the does not form a closed circuit but its surface capacity offers a temporary diversion for the current entering at the foot of g when its continuous passage is interrupted by separation of the contact points at h thus the at h is diminished and the suddenness of break increased but the has a further action in effects of what is known as the self of the whenever contact is made or broken in the each turn of wire in its winding has an effect on its neighbours similar to that exerted on the secondary thus at make there is in each turn a current induced in a direction opposite to the exciting current this and the current and consequently the effect of make on the secondary circuit at break this self induced current in each turn of the is in the same direction as the current thus it the strength of that current and the effect of break but while this adds to the desired effect the appearance of an additional current at break the of the current and consequently the of the core whereas we have already noted that the of the depends upon the suddenness of the interruption the action of the in this respect is difficult to practical x ray work explain in terms easy of comprehension yet correct so we may take liberty with the latter in order to achieve the former condition the current was described as passing from a in fig through pillars g and d to the winding thus it may be supposed to pass upwards in that limb of the circuit adjoining the and represented as contact at h being broken the current passes instead by to the distant side of the by influence of this charge the other side of the shown connected to the foot of pillar d receives an charge thereby producing a current downwards in the wire this is spoken of as absorbing the current in the m n c j j b f i fig winding or as discharge of the through the in a direction opposite to the current the effect of this however expressed is to to a large extent the self in the circuit on the of the exciting current it thereby the suddenness of the break and the of the core the break of the current is thus rendered so much more sudden and more powerfully than the make that the latter may for many purposes be ignored and the secondary discharge considered to consist of a series of inter apparatus here impulses aa mentioned the reverse currents due to make come to attention when very high above are employed in the but with certainly they may be ignored the the two points to be considered in an are duration of contact and suddenness of interruption in the ordinary or hammer break as in fig the spring d serves to hold the points in contact until the force of the attraction of the core p on the hammer j is sufficient to overcome the force of the spring i a good must keep up contact of j with m bo that the circuit is closed long enough to enable the current in the and the of the core to reach their this is referred to in earlier aa practical x ray work of the with a low this takes a longer time increase of the of the spring by the screw b will the duration of contact but the more firmly the spring presses the together the slower will be the separation and the less sudden will be the break of the current to secure prolonged contact associated with sudden break a slightly altered construction is adopted by many makers in most of these as in the two z w on sons london c j h l tions here and the hammer and the contact are carried on separate springs in each the hammer has to move by force of attraction against the restraint of its own spring through the space between the screw d in fig and the opposing face of the top of the spring b before a separation at f is effected thus contact continues for some time after the circuit is closed and break takes place when the hammer has reached its greatest the speed of interruption may be apparatus exactly regulated in such by of the screw d for screen work a fairly rapid rate of interruption is essential and should be maintained even if intensity of illumination may have to be sacrificed somewhat but for with low supply the rate of interruption should be kept somewhat low so as to secure of the and full intensity of discharge with even a rough understanding of the principle of a and there should be no difficulty in the practical of suitable apparatus a brief note of directions may however close this chapter a a for to source of sup tact screw d i pillars witli for to x connections in fig a a indicate the to which wires should be fastened to make connection with the source of supply before doing so see that the or e is turned off that is in mid position with the handle upright and the metal making contact with neither of the spring on either side of it that seen to connect to each a a an wire then practical x ray work connect | 28 |
on p on the opposite lower corner ie a similar arrangement for the current supplied to and consequently the speed of the above that is a the pressure of the current supplied by the in the centre of the is a starting of special design whereby current is sent to the of the setting it in action always before current is sent to the of the as is done by further of the this the risk mentioned in describing breaks of sending the full current to the while the break is at rest the seen under the is connected with an arrangement for setting the to cat off after a number of the other part of this arrangement is seen to the right apparatus i of the but we seldom employ it in practice under the starting is a or whereby the direction of the current may be altered if necessary to suit the setting of the x ray where is employed in the secondary circuit such should not be called for the x ray should ways be set in the same relative position for only so can he exercise its function at the top of the board is a lamp indicating current is passing to the board from the source of under that and its circuit as also under nd connected to each of the two is a small nd on the side of the back are safety to protect he various parts of the apparatus we find this a highly efficient and convenient arrangement nd it represents the proper average control with while avoiding the indications for varying the different as here for are given in the sections discussing fig b another typical board for con current of from to for use with having a triple as mentioned in the are necessary to reveal the x ray effects directly to the ye of the observer they are commonly made of a deposit f of on suitable material usually stretched on a light wooden frame the material is when new of a yellow colour ith a tint this latter tint becomes lost through prolonged exposure to x rays and the yellow gradually more of a tint in which condition is considerably diminished occasional exposure to daylight is to to observe the image on a screen properly the observer mast be in darkness and it will be found of advantage to let the eyes become accustomed to the darkness for a little before an attempt is made to view the screen the becoming practical x ray work thus more sensitive dark boxes with a screen at one end and an eye shade opposite are made for use in daylight but these are inconvenient in use and no work should be ordinarily undertaken unless in a room capable of being darkened at will for of gross and of foreign bodies a screen examination may be all that is required but we may mention here a point that will be further impressed later namely that negative evidence can rarely be relied on from screen examination alone but should be checked by a this latter may reveal finer points not on the screen and even have for want of this been overlooked the absence of the actual see fig are made in various sizes and vary in price but for general work a screen should be large enough to include readily in one view the of both lungs of an person a larger size will seldom if ever be wished for and having one such screen there is no necessity for a smaller one it is advisable to have the side of the screen covered by a sheet of glass which will protect the surface from injury and further protect the face of the observer from injurious of the metal handles to protect the hands while holding the are sometimes also attached to it but where gloves are worn as advised this is superfluous a stand for holding and permitting of the x ray should above all else be firm for this reason a stand is somewhat massive and should have a heavy base or foot this base will be on an ordinary floor when arranged with three points of support most stands on the market are much too and being designed apparently with a view to lightness but this quality is of no practical importance unless for apparatus fig a design we find very serviceable but the attached we set as in the arrangement in fig stands are best made with a metal base for apparatus ness the remainder being of wood so as to avoid and they should be of sufficient height for all possible purposes the means of should be simple as otherwise may be interfered with and care should be taken in that the x ray is kept always as near the supporting upright as may be with the position desired most recent stands are made with some form of protecting for the but as we do not recommend this practical x ray work position of the for we consider such somewhat superfluous for occasional use for purposes a special stand should be provided this may be of metal since its position can usually be fixed with respect to the connecting wires and need not be altered this stand should be specially adapted to carry a fig shield for protection of the and of parts of the patient other than that on which the effect of the is desired from the adjoining figure fig will be seen the design of the form of shield found most useful in our practice the shield is made of special glass to x rays and a series of or of similar material and varying are provided to fit on the front of the shield those as figured are made of a standard apparatus length of inches bnt can be obtained shorter if desired the length the distance of the | 28 |
part from the x ray daring exposure we usually employ of a length of inches so that their outer end is inches from the of the see p by choice of a of appropriate a larger or smaller area maybe exposed while the surrounding are protected this does away almost entirely with the clumsy method of protection by sheet lead and the being readily there is no objection to their repeated use of this have heen made and some are made to work also but the general idea is the same in all stands or are designed to accommodate stand and other x ray apparatus so that they may be moved about complete and ready for connecting to a of supply but only under exceptional circumstances we consider this expensive and inconvenient arrangement fig a represents a special designed for use in isolated places it is by means of a small battery of from the nearest private plant or failing this by means of horse gear or see p where regular x ray work is done a room practical x ray work devoted to the and will be fitted with pieces of arranged in the most convenient manner for operation even where the apparatus is only used occasionally it will be found better to fix the separate as found convenient to the special form and other contents of the room where in of prime importance the parts may be more easily conveyed separately and temporary connections made in so far as convenience of packing may i b dictate some arrangement in a suitable where it is desired to do much bedside work as in a a carrying and all other necessary apparatus may prove very serviceable fig b represents a recent design of such a set which may be connected to any ordinary wall of an electric light the table op couch is a piece of apparatus of prime importance for convenience in x ray work the best tables are apparatus undoubtedly those made with a top of material to the x rays while the x ray is carried underneath in a suitable box or which may the full length and breadth of the table as well as allow on such a table the patient may in any suitable position while the is moved opposite to any region desired to be examined the screen being placed above a comprehensive screen examination may thus be made in a short time and with a of inconvenience to patient and then at any desired point the may be fixed and a plate for the screen if a be desired the previous by the screen finding on the plate precisely the part indicated many points of detail will naturally vary in different designs of such tables but in the one we here describe we have found all the points carefully considered after prolonged experience and of parts we consider it the most and comprehensive design on the market and we feel we can safely recommend it for general x ray work where simplicity and strength are also of prime importance in this as in all other apparatus the two chief aims to be kept in view are simplicity and where these conflict a compromise must be attempted but it is the common mistake of instrument makers and to lose sight of the first in to serve the second and especially is this danger present where it is desired to employ one piece of for several different purposes when we state that with the table under review we are able to do screen work of any part of the body from above below or either side work and work it will be admitted that its capacity for use is comprehensive enough while the sketch fig will its simplicity the main body of the table consists of a strong wooden frame supported at the four corners leaving the full length free for of the carriage bearing the x ray and possibly the screen on this frame is stretched a strong sheet of canvas transparent to the x rays and this practical x ray work can be when by small along the side as at a a in figure the travelling e of a box b under the table and a c above which two parts are connected by h and move together on small running along a guide d on either side of the table the as consists of a wooden with sides of glass which is to x rays while allowing the a free view of the to note its action the box is on the supporting guides e and the for since tho above block of our table pi g wo have for the box under the table an with a large glass dome more adequate to tiie of the is by the same arrangement made upper part of the carriage ia now and completely leaving a top to the table when that part is not required the at either end not in figure are and so as to get the properly set and on the upper side of the box is situated an m at f the value of which will be explained later when is under consideration see also fig the box can be moved to the table on small resting on guides which are rigidly fastened to the h apparatus this movement is controlled and measured by a arm g on which a scale is marked corresponding with a scale marked on one of the bars i of the upper part of the carriage and referred to later thus it will be seen that the can be moved readily to any position within the borders of the table for ordinary purposes the screen will be laid directly upon the part to be examined and will be moved about directly by hand as required since it is important to have the screen as closely to the part as possible and a | 28 |
view is often desired at angles in work however as applied by us to this table it is necessary to have the screen move in all directions precisely with the lamp this purpose a special upright fig with two arms is added one of which arms is for the rod g and the other connected the screen the screen lies meanwhile inside the frame i j and is free to move between parallel guides by this added connection while it moves with the frame the use of this and another small for the purpose of making a record of the shadow will be further referred to when the subject f is considered see chapter ix p the part above the table consists of a frame i j which ay be moved on the connecting h or by k at any desired height this may for a screen being to fit he ordinary size of screen when placed on rests in its open art it may further serve as a or of a x though we find this practice seldom called for on of the bars i of this frame a scale is marked en either side of the centre of the table s width so that by noting the number opposite any point of a patient s body the may be placed exactly under that point by setting the arm g to the same number on the scale it carries across the top of the may be placed a bar l carrying a or m in which a may be placed when it is desired to take a with the plate under or at either side of the patient as he lies practical x ray work on his back or face this last item is seldom called for as nearly all can be better taken with the below in the rare cases in which exposure with the above is desired a separate stand will usually be at hand but the of this part makes the table complete for all purposes and in no wise the other parts the reasons and uses for those various devices will be evident when we come to consider practical working and from this description the reader should recognise the points to be looked for in a serviceable x ray table ms are interposed in the of from an x ray so as to cut off from a sensitive plate under exposure unnecessary rays which would otherwise serve to the record and the outline of the picture obtained in discussing x ray it was pointed out that were from a small area of the from that they proceed in straight lines which form a as in fig thus the projected shadow of any object interposed across their path will be a and distorted image of that object according to its position relative to the and sensitive plane receiving the impression this is discussed more fully in the sections on interpretation p p and p and hardly requires demonstration but the point will be made clear by reference to the figure fig there m n is supposed to be a sensitive plane screen or sensitive plate receiving the rays from an x ray below the rays pass through points on the plane a k which however lies at an angle to the plane m n this being the more common condition of objects exposed in practical the of a k at m n is readily evident and the is represented by the of the distances between the projected points a b c etc on the larger scale of actual working conditions this effect is more marked though the inclination of a k is here made somewhat extreme for the purpose of clearness apparatus the is greater in the exposed to the more rays and is only for a small area on each side of the central ray x y thus in a of a large area while the central parts will be represented with some degree of accuracy in proportion and relation the image of the parts will be so and distorted as to be of little or no real value further from the walls of the x ray and from other metal parts than the irregular rays sometimes called secondary x rays these are due to our inability to confine the origin of rays strictly to the or to bring to a all the rays formed there as at its edges those irregular rays on their on the walls of the or other parts in their path give rise to x rays which from their irregular origin and distribution serve to the of the regular these secondary x rays are doubtless responsible for much of the general of and for the lack of practical x ray work in outline and of definition in detail so frequently noted on screen or if a to the of lead or be interposed between the and the object exposed as at f in fig the referred to will be to some extent by the view to more central parts and definition of outline and detail will be improved by cutting off much of the secondary described above apparatus fig an suitable for attachment to a box fig a more simple but quite efficient arrangement fixed to the top of a box as described for working with the x ray under the table which we consider the most convenient and efficient method in both figures the is of the pattern similar to those employed in most ordinary this by means of a projecting handle may have its circular adjusted to any fig desired size and situated below the patient can be so adjusted while the effect is noted on a screen above unfortunately those cannot cut off all the secondary rays but they will cut off those of greatest which otherwise would naturally cause most confusion of result recently another form of has been introduced and commended in | 28 |
the person of the to the direct rays can be done in this direction by seeing that the x ray is set with illuminated directed away from that part of the room in which the takes his position during long or use of the shield described in a previous section will be serviceable in this direction as well as serving its direct purpose of protecting the patient from exposure of parts other than that desired to be acted upon in later designs those are deeper than in fig of the x ray in a box of glass or other material to the rays will also protect the during screen and work an ordinary wooden box made with suitable may be used if made x ray proof by with ordinary white lead which is cheap and serves well it is in screen work that the principal danger of exposure exists and during such work an should always have at least his hands protected gloves of thick rubber with lead should be worn for handling the screen and a hint worth remembering when consulted about a patient by a eager and anxious to see for himself is to allow the to hold the screen in position during what will probably be an prolonged illumination the danger to the patient of such prolonged screen must also be borne in mind as also the danger involved in taking a series of of the same part especially if the be soft as to the protection of other parts of the opinions vary have been made that many x ray workers have been found owing to unconscious exposure of the to and experiments on animals seem to that the x rays probably have an action on the special functions of the organs the conditions and degree of this effect still await investigation but meanwhile it is certainly advisable that anyone exposed much to x rays should wear an apron of rubber prepared like the gloves smaller covers to wear concealed by the clothing are also made protection of the patient from undue exposure is equally apparatus necessary and has been referred to briefly in this section but will be more discussed in full in the later section on other small pieces of apparatus are discussed under the appropriate to their use in etc a chapter v success in it is essential that the should have intimate knowledge of the with which he is working and for which he must ascertain for himself the conditions of highest the various involved have been discussed under the heading of apparatus the questions of supply and being thus understood we now note some points requiring attention in the actual production of a the most careful attention must be paid to every detail of the process no point however minor is unworthy of attention if the best results be desired i choice of it has been already explained how vary in hardness and in consequent power of penetration it was noted then that a should always be chosen with due regard to the nature of the work to be done for work a is selected of a hardness in direct relation to the of the part to be exposed this will be seen from the following table to correspond roughly to the actual thickness of the part but exceptions occur in the case of made of the or in which instances the presence of is the usual point to be settled in each of these cases if a were used corresponding in hardness to the thickness of the part the rays would probably penetrate the and leave no trace of its existence on the sensitive plate the following table the quality of we have found suitable for different parts added to it is a table of exposure times which will be referred to in the following section we are pleased to find that the majority of experienced workers agree with us in using softer than have been used formerly a hold that harder allow in exposure time and though the are very thin in quality and therefore unsatisfactory for direct examination that from them excellent prints may be made continued on next page times see later notes set at inches from nearest surface of part a soft giving spark of from to inches should be used for a medium giving spark of from to inches should be used for a hard giving spark of from to inches should be used for parts ill order of i using dip break to at to fingers toes fore arm in in wrist upper arm elbow joint foot lower leg ankle joint shoulder joint knee joint hip joint seconds minutes minute minutes minutes using break to at to seconds minute seconds minute minute n minutes minute minutes i practical x ray work we prefer however to depend upon the negative for comparison of results and observation and we to the introduction of unnecessary art into the process already complicated by many uncertain for foreign bodies in the or body the must be chosen of hardness suitable for the material of which the foreign body consists ii a of hardness corresponding to the part to be having been selected the duration of exposure now depends mainly upon two a the current supplied and h the distance of the x ray from the sensitive plate a current supplied this is most conveniently spoken of for purposes of comparison in that expression of power being equivalent to the product of the quantity of current supplied as expressed in multiplied by the motive force expressed in it will be readily understood that the more powerful the current supplied the shorter will be the exposure required other conditions remaining constant reference to the table on p where are quoted for two different | 28 |
supplies will illustrate this point and give a guide for early practice b distance of from plate as with all the effect of x rays on any object as the square of the distance of that object from the source of the rays thus duration of exposure will vary directly as that a convenient rule for regular work is to set the x ray at a distance of ten inches from the nearest surface of the object to be the table of on p is based on work done under this effects of different power must not be confused with effect no of exposure will for failure to choose a suitable to the special part to be thus rays from a hard will penetrate a hand and fail to give definition or detail however short the exposure may be whilst a soft will fail to penetrate or define a hip joint though the exposure be ever so prolonged keeping this in we shall be understood when we from the prevailing lust for speed in exposure which is revealed in present day literature of we say in the literature for we fancy most of it exists there and not in regular practice whilst instrument makers are naturally apt to boom an idea likely to involve alterations in existing apparatus the we have quoted in the foregoing table are those we have found to give uniformly good results under actual working conditions and which we employ for all purposes for which are ordinarily desired we are aware of certain advantages claimed for short especially of the but in our experience it is possible to obtain quite satisfactory results in practically all cases without such methods as are to movements with a current of at a pressure of passed through an we have repeatedly made of in five or six seconds but we cannot recommend the practice with such heavy currents the latitude in exposure is very small failures and difficulties with the apparatus are frequent special x ray are required and these have but a narrow margin of safety in working thus very rapid work though possible is most inconvenient and expensive further as has been already mentioned with such short the same detail of structure cannot be obtained as with longer exposure see note on on p this is especially important in considering ex i for investigation of bones of limbs many of them but partially the exposure of these to any marked extent would probably produce with fair outline but with detail of structure normal or quite thus the purpose of the process may be entirely missed through an attempt at its where there is doubt as to the correct exposure for a certain i practical x ray work set of conditions it should be remembered that an plate may to a certain extent be dealt with by precaution in development whilst an under exposed plate cannot be so therefore within reasonable limits let the exposure be ample and development cautious towards the end of a long exposure with a hard we have found it a good plan to strengthen the current so as to produce some of the and consequent softening this seems to add to the outline picture produced by the rays of higher penetration some detail of structure otherwise lost iii position of patient and x ray much depends on the choice of a proper position of the patient and correct setting of the x ray and sen plate no exposure should ever be made before each point has been carefully considered and attended to work can only result in disappointment in deciding the best positions the necessity for of patient and apparatus must be observed it is of no use arranging a patient in an unsteady position which he can only maintain by muscular effort for that is almost certain to more or less and permit movement of the part exposed steady support of the was when speaking of stands and is an essential readily understood a universal rule in deciding relative positions of x ray patient and sensitive plate is to g et the plate as near as possible to the object or part of which a view is desired if exposure must be made through the thickness of a part then the plate should be placed on that side of it on which the is suspected for as will be seen later the parts nearer to the plate are defined more clearly for each part of the body commonly a standard position should be decided on and unless special circumstances indicate otherwise all of the part should be made in that position for the sake of comparison with similar either directly or in the mind of the clothing plaster etc it is to have the part of the body of clothing when a is to be made of it most the x rays but little and outlines of bone can easily be defined through ordinary clothing such a view may under special circumstances be advisable and sufficient but detail of structure cannot be defined under such conditions after a has been applied a view of the part is often desired to ascertain whether of the bone is accurately reduced it is indeed a rule with many that every must be so viewed before it is considered to be set through ordinary wooden or a satisfactory view of a limb can always be obtained or a made metal make either impossible unless indeed in a direction passing between the on wooden of metal may interfere and limit the possible views a method of avoiding this obstacle as commonly met with in on the lower leg is described later in chapter viii plaster is always more or less a to x rays and the strong plaster with a lead basis which is employed by many to bind in position is especially so but the information desired can usually be obtained despite | 28 |
this even through a thick of plaster of paris a of a limb can be made and will probably indicate clearly enough the position of fragments of a or degree of of a of preparations containing or lead are to x rays and should always be removed when possible where such preparations have been absorbed into the skin of the part may be affected by their presence when plaster or have to be kept in position and are interposed in the path of the rays a harder than would otherwise be necessary should be employed and it should be set a little closer than usual io practical x ray work x ray above the patient this is the older arrangement for making and though in our opinion much inferior to the method of exposure from below circumstances occasionally do not permit of choice thus for bedside work or on other occasions requiring apparatus it is usually the and quite satisfactory method in such a case the part to be should be supported on some firm flat surface on which the sensitive plate may lie it is a very good practice to lay on a firm support a flat board faced with sheet lead besides furnishing a flat surface on which the plate may with safety lie even with some weight the lead in to the plate seems to the definition of the though this latter effect we admit may be more apparent than real the part should be arranged on this in the most convenient position and having turned downwards that aspect of which it is desired to have the most distinct view thus if a picture of the be desired the patient should be placed with his face downwards if a picture of the then he should lie on his back the x ray must now be set directly over the centre of the part to be and at a distance of about inches from its upper surface this is secured by the and part from two positions at right angles and the former till it is seen to be over the centre of the part a line may be dropped from the to guide its setting but this is seldom necessary the being thus set the sensitive plate should now be placed under the part and the exposure proceeded with preparation and setting of the plate is discussed in a later paragraph x ray below the patient with the above we can only set the and plate relative to the part we wish to and trust that the view obtained will be that desired with the below we can first view the part on the screen and see the picture which we will afterwards have impressed on the sensitive plate with the screen illuminated the can be moved the part and the adjusted to secure the view which best gives us the desired information we may also judge directly whether the in use is gi ing the requisite contrast in shadow to a good these points adjusted a sensitive plate is for the screen and we can with assurance proceed with the exposure the advantage of a table adapted for this of the x ray wi now be understood but the absence of a specially ted table need not always exposure from below an ordinary canvas may be supported at each end and with the patient on this an x ray fixed in an ordinary stand may be placed under and the exposure proceeded with an or is quite essential to secure the best results but cannot be conveniently used with a above the plate since there is no opportunity of directly the part actually illuminated with a acting from below the is fitted or inches above the and serves to cut off all unnecessary rays which would otherwise produce cross shadows and the outline of the picture the should be contracted as to just as much as is really ed to be been in the of surrounding parts is of no value unless for l and by the area of exposure by the b much better definition o outline and detail is b b with a large area of exposure indeed the image of the parts is commonly so distorted as to be almost this is due to the of the rays reaching as explained in an earlier section see p as there b mention ed in addition to rays from the there are irregular rays from the glass of the which further the image if not it is necessary to view a large area it is much better practice to make two separate of adjoining setting the for each io practical x ray work iv the sensitive plate ordinary plates may serve for and are often so used with satisfactory results special plates are however and give more uniformly good results these plates are usually modified to give extra of image this being secured by them with more than one of sensitive we have for some time regularly used special plates which are said to be triple and we find them very satisfactory and quite worth their additional price the ordinary sensitive is quite to x rays hence of several produces a effect if some could be devised possessing more stopping power then we might expect more definite pictures we are pleased to note the company have taken up the manufacture of special plates the quality of these is by a in the of the ray of april and we believe this is in accord with general experience it must be remembered that plates are sensitive to ordinary light as well so that all of them must be performed in a carefully darkened room lit only by green or red light which should be diffused by the use of some fabric or ground glass plates should be stored in a cool dry place and if anywhere near a source of x rays must be | 28 |
stored in a lead lined box it is much better however to store plates at some distance from the room with the exception of those that may be required for immediate use as sold the plates are wrapped in paper and packed in in sealed boxes the sizes which it will be found suitable to stock are j inches by s inches known as quarter plate j inches by j inches known as whole plate and inches by inches it is a wise economy to use always the smallest plate that will include the desired view and such practice will help to justify the use of plates of the best though more expensive where possible the should decide in advance what plates he is likely to require and before the other work he get those prepared for use to do so the required plates are in the dark room without any illumination and each is enclosed in paper to ordinary light usually two are so employed the inner one of orange colour the outer black in placing a plate in the first envelope it is necessary to know on which side of the plate is the sensitive and the absence of light may make this seem at first sight difficult with a very little experience however the side may be detected by touch being soft and by contrast with the side of bare glass which is cold and slippery another test suggested is by touching with the tongue to which the side is felt but touch alone is usually sufficient the side should be carefully then the plate placed in the orange coloured envelope with the towards the plain side of the envelope that on which an address would be written then this envelope should be placed inside the black envelope with its towards the closed end and its address side towards the same side of the latter by this arrangement one can always know towards which aspect the side of the plate is turned this it is essential to know for the plate must always be turned with this sensitive side towards the x ray if turned otherwise the glass would interfere to some degree with the passage of the rays and in interpretation of the confusion would arise in right and left sides of the view this latter difficulty of interpretation from a alone where conditions of exposure are not carefully observed is no imaginary one as anyone with experience will know and especially is it so when a has to be to one anxious but ignorant regarding such matters to the difficulty we find it a good plan to a object opposite one definite corner of every this may take the form of a small no practical x ray work adapted for the purpose or a piece of metal may be fastened by material to the face of the envelope where a system is adapted of all plates by type in their exposure the number may be printed always in one defined corner this may be done by of separate numbers in solid or in type which are fastened on the face of the envelope by paper just before exposure and in the record book the exposure is entered under the corresponding number thus reference instead of metal type a may be written on with an ink made of a of a salt of in and spirit on this may be entered any information desired besides its reference number but although the latter plan sounds we have found the metal type more satisfactory the mark the sides of the may be made of a private nature so that as in legal cases advantage may be retained by the the plate thus prepared is placed in position under or over the part to be care being taken that its sensitive side as indicated by the plain or address side of the envelope be turned towards the patient and thus also towards the x ray with the above and plate below the weight of the part must be relied upon to keep the plate steady and in position with the below and plate above there is opportunity of some pressure on the plate besides keeping it steady this may serve to bring the plate in closer to the bony or deeper parts of which a view is usually desired which is desirable so as to avoid as far as possible for this purpose we find it good to place on top of the plate the flat board faced with sheet lead to which we have already referred the use of in a similar way is discussed in an earlier chapter on apparatus to avoid another source of the plate must be held as nearly in a plane as the of the surface will allow exposure completed the plate should be removed at once from the room whether or not it be intended to proceed immediately with its development since even from a distance might seriously affect it y development to one acquainted with development of ordinary the after treatment of exposed x ray plates need offer no difficulty in each case the impression made on the sensitive plate by may be to be latent since no change ia visible in it until acted on by a suitable or this ia simple if intelligent care be in its direction but much of the success of a may nevertheless depend upon it care and cleanliness are the two chief for its execution many excellent of are published which explain the and details of the process of development and perusal of one of these will well repay anyone with the subject to whom the brief notes here set down may be insufficient as a complete guide later on we shall detail the steps of the process but consider a few important points the time occupied by development will depend naturally upon the length of exposure relative to the subject | 28 |
exposed and upon the strength of the with proper exposure should be allowed about ten to fifteen to develop it may be done much more we allow with good results but little is gained by rushing the process and much may be lost with over rapid development much of the finer detail in the picture is inevitably lost the dangers of prolonged development are by exposure to light or changes in the due to prolonged any of the ordinary may be used but it ia well to follow the instructions which are always published with as sold and which vary slightly for different of manufacture at one time we a on our own account to the special qualities of x ray plates but we abandoned practical x ray work that and have for some time a specially recommended by the company we have reason to be highly satisfied with the action of this the of which is f r or water c c j it is advisable that of be made up at the time of using as the gradually loses power on keeping the solution may be made up and added as the is required for use but we prefer to keep each in powder form thus each powder may be made up in containing the requisite quantity for of developing solution the two being wrapped in papers of different colour then at any time one packet of each may be added to of water and fresh is at once ready for use it is recommended to carry development with this a little further than usual as some slight loss of takes place in the fixing bath and it is stated that for the proportion of of may be increased while for over exposure if the amount of be increased good results may be obtained from over exposed plates another which is highly recommended and which may be more readily is solution a c sod water c c us solution b sod sod or water c c for development mi in following proportions at time of use solution a c c solution b to c c water c c or j to increase the quantity of b drop by drop during development if the negative has been under exposed the following sketch of the steps to be observed in the course of development makes no pretence to be but gives us opportunity of noting in some points worthy of special attention in work the room being carefully darkened unless for the green or red light take the plate out of its and gently remove any possible of dust from its surface by means of a soft brush or by blowing place the plate upwards in a or composition dish of appropriate size and shape flood the plate with the prepared taking care that the surface of the is uniformly wet and that no air bells are allowed to remain upon it the former point is best attained by raising one corner of the dish and pouring the from that corner the latter by removing the air bells v ith the finger if necessary keep the moving over the face of the plate by giving to the dish a continuous rocking motion watch the plate carefully for the first minute or two since an over exposed plate may flash up very rapidly and must at once be checked if no change appear within the first two minutes it is safer to cover the developing dish so as to protect the plate from the light since even the coloured light may affect it if freely exposed for any length of time on a correctly exposed plate after about two minutes development darker patches should begin to appear and should gradually and slowly form an image meanwhile the rocking motion should be kept up and the progress of development occasionally observed when the upper surface appears fairly dark raise the plate and view its under surface with an ordinary plate completion of development is commonly judged by the plate held between the observer and the light p practical x ray work this method may also be employed with plates but development of the latter must be carried further than with the former development with these must be carried as it were through the extra thickness of the and the of completion is seeing the black shadows plainly marked on the back of the plate if before that time the white parts of the plate begin to assume a uniform dirty tint it may be implied that a fog is setting in and development must be stopped short of such occurrence over development is not readily reached and a s timidity will more often lead to the opposite mistake in in an exposed plate changes appear very rapidly after development is commenced in such a case pour the back into its original and wash the plate rapidly in running water under the tap then the with about an equal quantity of water and resume development if over exposure be suspected then it is well to commence with a weak solution of and have some stronger solution at hand to add if development prove slow if exposed the plate the changes due to development slowly it is not well to attempt by the additional time for development is the obvious and safest remedy but a satisfactory result need never be looked for with a plate which is under exposed to any extent probably the best possible result will be obtained by the covering the dish and allowing development to proceed for a long time this method at least allows the to leave development to proceed in safety while he to something else when the dark parts show quite black at the back of the plate it is needless to the process further various of and additions to are suggested to for errors in exposure thus for over exposure a less proportion of may | 28 |
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