A BOTANICAL ACCOUNT OF CALIFORNIA. 



365 



shape as the beech-nut. The kernel is 

 pleasant to eat, resembling the filbert in 

 flavor. 



On August the 13th I returned to Mon- 

 terey, and was once more laid up with fever 

 and ague, from which I did not recover un- 

 til the beginning of September. On Sep- 

 tember the 6th I went again over to Santa 

 Cruz in quest of pine cones, which were 

 now ripening. The sorts I procured were 

 Abies Douglasii, Pinus Californica, and P. 

 Benthamiana. The cones of the latter 

 were unusually scarce this season, and 

 seem to have suffered from late spring 

 frosts, A few cones were all I could pro- 

 cure of this sort. They were smaller ihan 

 those of the preceding year, and contained 

 but few good seeds. 



On September the 20th I again left Mon- 

 terey for the southern parts, which, on ac- 

 count of the disturbed state of last year, I 

 could not visit before. As guide I engaged 

 the services of a man who had accompa- 

 nied me on my last excursion to Santa Cruz, 

 and who, from his profession as a hunter, 

 was well acquainted with the intricate 

 mountain paths of the district I intended to 

 visit. On the day of our starting we 

 reached the mission of La Solidad, an ill- 

 constructed, half-ruined building, situate 

 in the Salinas valley, and encamped to- 

 wards evening on the banks of the Salinas 

 river, within a short distance of the mis- 

 sion. By sunrise the following morning 

 we were again on horseback, and leaving 

 the main road on the right, we entered a 

 mountain defile leading to the mission of 

 San Antonio. Here I observed a shrubby 

 Arctostaphylos, with large brown seeds; a 

 half-climbing Caprifolium, profusely cover- 

 ed with scarlet berries ; an evergreen shrub- 

 by oak ; and a subdeciduous oak, the latter 

 forming a tree thirty feet high. 



From San Antonio a range of mountains 

 extends along the coast, attaining a great 

 elevation, which, although apparently bar- 

 ren, as seen from the mission, I was as- 

 sured, on the western flank towards the sea 

 is covered by large pines. The lower re- 

 gion of this range, at the foot of which the 

 mission is built, is thinly covered with the 

 evergreen Californian Oak, a Ceanothus, 

 Cercocarpus, a small leaved shrubby Fraxi- 

 nus, and Pinus Sabiniana — the latter at 



the time with ripe cones. An evergreen 

 shrubby Prunus, called Islay, with a holly- 

 like leaf, bearing a red fruit resembling 

 the cherry-plum, grows also abundantly 

 here. The thin pulp which surrounds the 

 proportionate large seed is sweet and plea- 

 sant to eat. The kernel, after being roast- 

 ed and made into gruel, is a favorite dish 

 amongst the Indians. Having ascended 

 the first ridge, we passed through thickets 

 of Arctostaphylos tomentosa and Ceanothus 

 thyrsiflorus, and entered a forest of Pinus 

 Lambertiana. The cones of this noble pine 

 are always hanging from the points of the 

 branches, were by this time already open, 

 and the seeds had fallen out. From cones 

 that had been blown down, I picked out a 

 few seeds. 



Descending the western flank of the 

 great mountain range, I found at last the 

 long wished for Abies bracteata, occupying 

 exclusively ravines. This remarkable Fii 

 attains the height of fifty feet, with a stem 

 from twelve to fifteen feet in diameter, one- 

 third of which is clear of branches, and 

 the remainder forming an elongated taper- 

 ing pyramid, of which the upper part, for 

 three feet, is productive of cones. Having 

 cut down some trees, I found to my regret 

 that the cones were but half grown, and 

 had been frost-bitten. In more sheltered 

 situations, towards the sea shore, the same 

 happened to be the case ; and I was thus 

 precluded all hope of introducing this re- 

 markable Fir into Europe. 



Finding it impossible to prosecute my 

 journey to the south along the coast, from 

 the numerous ravines which descend from 

 the mountain range, I returned hence tc 

 San Antonio, and crossed by the farm oi 

 El Piojo, where the ridge is less elevated. 

 A small pine wood, which became visible 

 on our descent, extending along the beach, 

 looked like an oasis in the desert — the dark 

 green of the pines forming a beautiful con- 

 trast with the parched-up fields. Upun ;. 

 nearer examination, I found the wood to bt 

 composed of a variety of Pinus insignis. 

 with larger cones than those about Mon- 

 terey, from which it also differs in theii 

 being produced in less abundance. Fol- 

 lowing along the sea shore for nine miles, 

 we struck inland again, and arrived at tht 

 mission of San Luis Obispo, from whence 



