Title:
Letter from [John Muir] to [Jeanne C.] Carr, 1874 Sep 27.
Creator:
[John Muir]
Publisher:
The Huntington Library. Please contact this institution directly to obtain copies of the images or permission to publish
or use them beyond educational purposes.
Contributor:
[Jeanne C.] Carr
Date:
1874 Sep 27
2008
Type:
Text
Format:
Image/jpeg2000
Identifier:
muir03_0174-md-1
Source:
Original letter dimensions unknown.
Language:
eng
Coverage:
Yosemite Valley
Rights:
Copyrighted
The unpublished works of John Muir are copyrighted by the Muir-Hanna Trust. To purchase copies of images and/or obtain permission
to publish or exhibit them, see
http://library.pacific.edu/ha/forms
Muir-Hanna Trust
1984
Transcription:
(Consider the grasshoppers how they grow go) drawing of grasshopper in grass Yosemite Valley Sunday Sep 27th 1874 Dear
Mrs Carr. I have been down bathing in the Langes. I wonder if I will ever know another river like this. After plashing lasing
in the spangling crystal I swam across to examine a section of the bank found charred bark ten feet below lake flood deposits.
In a vertical portion of the bank I discovered two small frogs of a new species each snugly nestled in a dainty illegible
from which they could look out over the water they are not water frogs however. I swam over with them in my hand holding them
aloft when I ducked them they made a great nervous ado I have them in my room hoping they may sing like crickets or tree frogs
for me in the night In walking over the peebles I received some tingling lessons illegible drift formations upon the soles
of my feet. The wind sifted deliciously through my reviving flesh, thrilled every fiber. The afternoon sun shimmered upon
the glossy poplars bright as upon the rippled currents of the river. A thicket of tall waving golden rods warms the south
bank the while valley is fully light like a lake in wh one instinctively loves illegible as if it were water I chased a grasshopper
finally illegible ed the lusty fellow made him attempt to fly over the river into wh he fell I ran out captured him before
any of the trouts. Another larger one few up wh I also succeeded in driving into the river but just as I got within arms length
a trout caught him by the legs drew him down. I clipt the wings of the first carried him to my room to experiment upon his
habits movements. Here is an exact copy of his walking embrosderd track natural size wh I got by compelling him to walk across
a plateful of fine sand in my room I showed the original track to an Indian, but he only grinned didn t gabe? . Blacki? -
Chinaman was also puzzled, thought it might be writing. Billy Simms happened along illegible for Kellogg Keith. I showed him
the track he guessed it might be that of a tarantula or centipede. No 1 in the fig is made by the middle feet No2 by the front
feet No 3 by the feet of the big? jumping pair. fig 4 is made by his body is more or less continuous? according to his weariness
or the depth his feet sink in the sand. The three figures at the head are copies of the tracts he makes in jumping Fig 1 are
made by the front pair, 2 the second 3 the third 4 by the body in crouching. drawing of tracks here and on both sides of
letter It is beautiful is it not the track embroidery? of the gray lizard is still more beautiful. in margin: (The above
grasshopper in the grass is supposed to have walked once up both sides along the bottom, jumped thrice on the top of the page.)