what is the relationship between man and nature

The artistry of Twain is on display in his description of Mono Lake. The imagery implicates it as one of the less desirable places to see when faced with the topographical majesty of the American wet. And yet the notable intrusion of pure metaphor set off from that bleak imagery surrounding by dashes ironically lends it a status that could arguably make it the most desirable spot to visit of all that Twain describes in his book:

“Mono Lake lies in a lifeless, treeless, hideous desert, eight thousand feet above the level of the sea, and is guarded by mountains two thousand feet higher, whose summits are always clothed in clouds. This solemn, silent, sail-less sea—this lonely tenant of the loneliest spot on earth—is little graced with the picturesque.”