148 THE MOUNTAINS OF CALIFORNIA 



even the leafiest trees with scarcely any interrup 

 tion, and the weary, heated traveler finds but little 

 protection in their shade. 



The generous crop of nutritious nuts which the 

 Nut Pine yields makes it a favorite with Indians, 

 bears, and squirrels. The cones are most beautiful, 

 measuring from five to eight inches in length, and 

 not much less in thickness, rich chocolate-brown in 

 color, and protected by strong, down-curving hooks 

 which terminate the scales. Nevertheless, the lit 

 tle Douglas squirrel can open them. Indians gath 

 ering the ripe nuts make a striking picture. The 

 men climb the trees like bears and beat off the cones 

 with sticks, or recklessly cut off the more fruitful 

 branches with hatchets, while the squaws gather the 

 big, generous cones, and roast them until the scales 

 open sufficiently to allow the hard-shelled seeds to 

 be 'beaten out. Then, in the cool evenings, men, 

 women, and children, with their capacity for dirt 

 greatly increased by the soft resin with which they 

 are all bedraggled, form circles around camp-fires, 

 on the bank of the nearest stream, and lie in easy 

 independence cracking nuts and laughing and chat 

 tering, as heedless of the future as the squirrels. 



Pinus tuberculata 



THIS curious little pine is found at an elevation 

 of from 1500 to 3000 feet, growing in close, willowy 

 groves. It is exceedingly slender and graceful in 

 habit, although trees that chance to stand alone out 

 side the groves sweep forth long, curved branches, 



