80 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



self-respecting tree to feel that its ancestry was domi- 

 ciled on the shores of this glorious bay, and that it had 

 been sired by the most picturesque tree of a continent. 



From the hotel at Del Monte a wonderful drive, known 

 as the Seventeen-Mile Drive, follows the coast line past 

 the historic old buildings of Monterey, skirting a mission 

 wall (which should be a standard for modern architects 

 to strive toward) and along the sandy beach past homes 

 of innumerable sea fowl, and plunges into a forest of 

 pines that forms the background to the iirst grove of 

 cvpress trees. From there the road winds in and out 

 amongst the spectral trunks, giving a glimpse here and 

 there of the blue horizon and jagged pomts of promon- 

 tories, burying itself now and then in the dark and 

 gloomy shade where the growth is dense. About four 

 miles beyond the first grove of cypress trees is the famous 



By C. K. Bonestell, Jr. 



LITHOGRAPH SKETCH OF OLD CYPRESS 



The individuality and character of these trees is such as to defy the art 

 of the camera. Photographers are plentiful in the vicinity, but their 

 work never seems to carry with it the atmosphere that surrounds these 

 sturdy trees. Mr. Bonestell has caught something of the spirit of the 

 district in his sketch. 



Midway Point, which, until the advent of a fleeting 

 exposition, was the most photographed tourist lure on the 

 Pacitic Coast. It comprises a rock promontory that pro- 

 jects out into the sea, with its toes lapped by the gentle 

 waves of the Pacific, whose ardor has been tempered by 

 the reefs and submerged rocks farther out at sea, upon 

 whose treacherous points the coastwise traffic of this dis- 

 trict is frequently wrecked. Upon the summit of this 

 point, as if placed there by the playful hand of an 



imaginative painter, grows a lone cypress tree, the roots 

 of which are almost entirely exposed to the air. The top 

 of this tree, however, is brilliant green, and when sil- 

 houtted against the sky of the setting sun is indeed a 

 sight to behold. Farther along the coast the drive widens 

 along the shores of Pebble Beach, past the homes of men 

 whose millions are in the banks and others whose for- 



/. \ t . K. Bonestell, Jr. 



LITHOGRAPH SKETCH OF ONE OF THE OLDEST STANDING 

 TREES 



The ground about this old monarch is scarred with the imprints of 

 easel legs and artists' stools. Hardly a season passes that some artist 

 of international fame does not plant himself before this picturesfjue 

 tree to engage in another struggle with the reproduction of the rllusive 

 tints and shades of its trunk and branches. 



tunes are still in their heads, to Arrowhead Point, and 

 beyond to the famous mission that marks the mouth of 

 the Carmel Valley. Beyond the point where the Carmel 

 River empties into the sea is Lobos Point, and the quaint- 

 est and most curious cannery on this coast. At the latter- 

 named point of interest they preserve the toothsome 

 abalone, a sea product that is peculiarly indigenous to 

 this locality. Many strange and weird tales are told of 

 the dangers of persuading the tenacious abalone to relin- 

 quish his clutch upon the surface of his beloved rock. 

 The inhabitants of the district will tell of this man and 

 that who, actuated by an unconquerable desire to bring 

 away a souvenir, has unwittingly placed his fingers be- 

 neath the edge of the abalone shell, when, without warn- 

 ing, the vicious brute clamped suddenly down upon his 

 fingers and imprisoned him, like Prometheus bound to 

 the rock, there to suffer a lingering death by drowning 



