THE ISLAND OF THE SACRED CROSS 263 



place one, have a decidedly foreign air. In front of 

 each is a small, old-fashioned garden, with narrow, 

 winding walks, filled with fragrant, old-fashioned 

 plants. The dining-room is in a separate building, 

 and at the sumptuous lunch our host informed us that 

 everything but the champagne and flour was pro- 

 duced on the island ranch. 



Standing on the ranch house veranda, the valley 

 was seen to extend east and west several miles, and 

 rising to the summit of the hills were the vines, planted 

 in the European fashion. They were of many kinds, 

 producing the white and the red wines which have 

 made the Santa Cruz vintage famous. A long road 

 lined with lofty eucalyptus trees followed the valley, 

 passing through acres of vines. Near at hand were 

 two large wineries, where the wine is made and stored. 

 It is said to have a peculiar bouquet not noticed in 

 the mainland wines. 



There are two distinctive seasons at the Santa Cruz 

 Island ranch — the sheep-shearing and the vintage, 

 when the French and Italian islanders are reinforced 

 by the Barbareiios, from Santa Barbara, who pick the 

 grapes in September and shear the sheep twice a year. 

 The latter work requires men of this hardy stock and 

 the finest horsemen, and probably in no other country 

 are men seen riding over such inaccessible mountains. 

 The sheep, of which there are thirty thousand or 

 more, range all over the fifty-six thousand acres of the 

 island, except in the valley in the interior, devoted to 

 the ranch and vineyard. The island is cut in every 

 direction by caiions, whose walls in many instances 

 are so precipitous that it is almost impossible for an 

 unaccustomed man to climb them; yet the fearless 



