Then the earth shook terribly and groaned with great pain, and
enormous rocks fell from the walls around Ah-wah´-nee. The
great dome called Tis-sa´-ack was burst asunder, and half of it
fell into the Valley. A fire burst out of the earth in the East,
and the _ca´-lah_ (snow) on the sky mountains was changed to
water, which flowed down and formed the Lake Ah-wei´-yah
[Mirror Lake]. And all the streams were filled to overflowing,
and still the waters rose, and there was a great flood, so that a
large part of the Valley became a lake, and many persons were
drowned.

After a time the Great Spirit took pity on his children, and the
dark cloud of smoke disappeared, the sun warmed the Valley again
into new life, and the few people who were left had plenty of
food once more.

Many moons afterwards there appeared on the face of the great
rock To-tau-kon-nu´-la the figure of a man in a flowing robe,
and with one hand extended toward the West, in which direction he
appears to be traveling. This figure was interpreted to be the
picture of the great lost Chieftain, indicating that he had gone
to the "happy hunting grounds" of his ancestors, and it is looked
upon with great veneration and awe by the few Indians still
living in Yosemite. At about the same time the face of the
beautiful Tis-sa´-ack appeared on the great flat side of the
dome which bears her name, and the Indians recognized her by the
way in which her dark hair was cut straight across her forehead
and fell down at the sides, which was then considered among the
Yosemites as the acme of feminine beauty, and is so regarded to
this day.