Riverside and Finis. 317 



six thousand acres of the region are already developed or developing. The 

 population of the city may reach six thousand ; but the people believe in 

 sixty thousand, and are preparing to receive them. Yonder, on the west 

 side of the valley, and almost half way up the mountain slope, on a plateau 

 which nature must have designed for the purpose, are already laid the foun- 

 dations of what is to be the great Robidou Hotel. I climbed up to where 

 the construction is going on, and obtained through my glass a general view 

 of the whole valley. It is one of the most beautiful places to be found any- 

 where ; and the evidences of this sea of green trees in midwinter are better 

 than an affidavit as a proof of prosperity. 



The sessions of our Society extended through the 7th, 8th and 9th of 

 February. On the evening of the first day a formal reception was given to 

 the Society at the Congregational church. The welcome address on behalf 

 of the citizens was delivered by Rev. G. H. Deere, and the response on be- 

 half of the Society by President Parker Earle.* In the forenoon of the 

 second day came the local excursion, one of the very finest which we enjoyed 

 in California. Carriages called for the members of the Society at their ho- 

 tels and private lodgings, and we were away. Among the many scenes of 

 pleasant association and beautiful prospect which arise in my memory from 

 the landscapes of California, I recall with peculiar delight the beauties and 

 pleasures of Magnolia avenue. In the outlying towns of the state I saw 

 nothing to equal this drive. The avenue is a magnificent boulevard stretch- 

 ing out in a southwesterly direction from the city, almost in a straight line, 

 to the distance of seven miles. It is about 120 feet in width. Through its 

 whole extent it bears four rows of ornamental trees — two in the middle of 

 the avenue and one on either side. The center rows are generally eucalyp- 

 tus, and those on the border pepper trees and palms. This delightful thor- 

 oughfare was called Magnolia avenue from the design to border it through- 

 out with magnolias grandiflora ; but it was found experimentally that the 

 magnolia does not flourish here, not, indeed, from cold and frost, but from 

 lack of sufficient humidity of atmosphere. The magnolia requires an air 

 more given to dripping than can be found in the California valleys. So the 

 eucalyptus, the pepper tree, the palm and the gravellia were substituted ; 

 and I, for one, am satisfied with the substitution, especially as it relates to 

 the palm. These, to right and left, are still young and flourishing; but 

 you can see in each vigorous stem and outbranching of glorious leaves the 

 prophecy of the hereafter. 



It was along yonder borders of Magnolia avenue that we saw the finest 

 orange orchards to be found in California. Into some of these we turned, 

 and drove among the trees bending with the burden of ripe fruit. It is, in- 

 deed, a spectacle, this vast area of dark-green leaves interspersed with globes 

 of gold. Such is the abundance of the fruit in these vast orchards that I am 

 confident, could the beholder look down upon them from a distant height, 

 they would present a tinge of rich yellow like a phosphorescence on the sea. 



♦See proceedings of the Society for these excellent addresses. 



