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40 await the opening of the first buds a little before sunset The calyx [spits] over yellow twisted petals shine through the seam then along comes a moth & vainly trys [tries] to push it open - goes & comes untiringly each bud perhaps visited 40 times before it untwists & allows its treasures to be taken. The moth remains in a fresh flower about ½ a minute – The next comer plunges into it but quickly finds that it has been rifled of its riches as is shown by the shortness of its stay scarce a second. The pistil is longer than the stamens & the arrangement of these organs with the [robbed] pollen & the moths seems to be to [prevent] breeding in & in. In the narrow crooked bottom of a deep rough canon in this our Garden Camp a [row] of briers on each side an oozing [noiseless] thread of water. A [swat] of Rye Grass mingled with the tall oenotheras wh [which] so faithfully light their yellow camp every
41 night. Few willows a most interesting life centre an oasis of marvelous beauty. Most of the Can’s [canyons] of Carson Sink Range have springs wh [which] send forth water sufficient to make green threads in the bottom of the [gray] depths no singing water. No surging the lowest-tinkling & [purling] only no stream reaches to base of range all the year. Not snow clad for more than a few weeks. Thermom [thermometer] at Stillwater sometimes at zero or below – 8 or 10 in thick The southmost mtn [mountain] of the Car [Carson] Sink Range is remarkable for its breadth – a mass of black vesicular lava dense as iron resting upon sedimentary rocks. It is about 2 miles long in direction of axis of range by 1 in width – at top nearly level breaking away abruptly on all sides. The top is green – almost fertile in
Date Original
1878
Source
Original journal dimensions: 9.5 x 16 cm.
Resource Identifier
MuirReel25Journal05P40-41.tif
Publisher
Holt-Atherton Special Collections, University of the Pacific Library
Rights Management
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Keywords
John Muir, journals, drawings, writings, travel, journaling, naturalist
