A FAMOUS COACH ROAD 113 



most expert professional six-in-hand drivers in Cali- 

 fornia — Mr. George Greeley, of Pasadena; and a trip 

 to Santa Cataiina is not complete without a ride to 

 the summit on the box seat with him. The drive is 

 perfectly safe, and it is a fascinating experience which 

 I at least never tire of. We book our order with 

 George Greeley the night before; the next morning 

 the six-in-hand rolls up before the Metropole, the 

 famous whip has the reins, and our seats are ready. 



We are finally seated and off. Dashing up a little 

 street, we turn sharply round a point reaching into 

 the sea, and a few minutes later are high above Avalon, 

 its crescent-shaped bay standing out in strong relief, 

 the blue Pacific stretching away in every direction. 

 A sudden turn is made, and the road climbs a shelf 

 on the side of Descanso Cafion that reaches the sea, 

 parallel to Grand Caiion and separated from it by 

 a ridge of the mountain. The horses are obliged to 

 walk slowly to the summit — three miles, perhaps — 

 by the winding road. Every foot of the rise gives a 

 new and spirited vista of mountain and ocean. Half- 

 way up, as we round a splendid horse-shoe curve, the 

 deep canon drops away on the right, and we can toss 

 a stone that will roll, doubtless, one thousand feet. 

 The trees at the bottom appear like bushes, and the 

 sails of vessels are gulls below us. But the ocean — 

 the Sea of Balboa — that is the fascinating object. 

 It is seemingly directly beneath us, of the most intense 

 blue, while far away rises the Sierra Madre, capped 

 with snow. The coach ever follows the indications 

 of the canon; the road is but a shelf fifteen feet in 

 width, cut out of its side. 



Again we face the mountain, and are seemingly 



