328 Beyond (he Sivrras. 



attention is distracted from more important work by every red trifle which 

 he rtnds in the road. For this reason, at a Chinese funeral, ihe route from 

 the house to the depository of the dead is always 6>trewn by the mourners 

 and their friends with bits of red paper, so that if the devil should come 

 that way hunting for a victim his faculties will be occupied with the red 

 paper until the burial is safely over. There are many citizens in our own 

 dear country to whom I recommend the same admirable expedient as a 

 protection against the legitimate consequences of death. 



I spent the following three or four days in looking about Los Angeles, 

 and especially in gathering some information about the University of South- 

 ern California. President M. M. Bovard made the writer his guest, and 

 furnished every opportunity to visit the institution, note its workings, and 

 estimate its prospects. The Californians are wide awake on the question nf 

 education. Institutions of the higher grade are springing up everywhere, 

 in attestation of the spirit of the people. The university recently founded 

 by Hon. Leiand Stanford has already been mentioned. Our visit to the 

 State University at Berkeley came in for its share of notice in a former 

 chapter. I neglected to say that the University of the Pacific, at Santa 

 Clara, is also in a state of prosperity and rapid development, and that the 

 State Normal School at San Jos^ is a highly repuUible institution. This 

 University of Southern California, at Los Angeles, is already strong in con- 

 dition and prospects, and especially so in the matter of endowment. I be- 

 lieve that a fair estimate of its resources will at the present time reach 

 $2,500,000. And yet less than eight years ago President Bovard himself, 

 with a single companion and a spade, turned np the first shovelful of earth 

 for the first insignificant building of the institution. 



I have already spoken about our p:issage through the valley of San 

 Fernando. On my third journey through these parts I had the pleasure of 

 stopping at the little town which has taken its name from the valley, and of 

 inspecting the country. It has the same general character of many of the 

 lowland districts already described. It is a very arid region, the annual 

 rain-fall being almost at a minimum ; but I did not visit any region in any 

 part of the State where the means of artificial irrigation are in process of 

 better development. 



A description of the method adopted for this purpose will prove of 

 interest. The town of San Fernando is situated about four miles from the 

 baae of the mountains, lying transversely across the top of the valley. 

 Beyond, alittle to the northeast, is the mouth of one of the principal canons, 

 opening on one of the lowlands and bringing down from the snows of the 

 .summits a stream of water that might be dignified by the name of river. No 

 sooner, however, does this reach the plain than it divides into channels, 

 skims the surface, wanders around over a brief space and sinks out of sight. 

 To economize the water of this stream was the main end proposed by the 

 company having the matter under consideration. And (his is the plan 

 adopted : Across the mouth of the cafion, from mountain spur to mountain 



