PREFACE TO PART YI. 



The wide-spread interest in tho woods of the Pacific Slope has prompted 

 me to visit the marvelous forests of that region, that I may represent 

 their varied wealth of species next in AMERICAN" WOODS. It is a region 

 of unparalleled interest to the lover of trees, as he notes the scores of 

 kinds which he finds there and nowhere else, while the size and density 

 of growth of some of them, under the benign influence of the Pacific, 

 can not fail to arouse in him feelings of admiration and awe. Indeed, I 

 found myself loath to turn away from the contemplation of tree-growth 

 there so grandly displayed, and not even the pouring of the winter rains 

 in the valleys or the depth of snow upon the mountains deterred me 

 from my purpose. 



Once night overtook us unexpectedly far above the snow line (in 

 winter) without oven coats and vests on, so laborious had it been to make 

 our way through the deep snow up to the home of the Big Trees, and so 

 hotly does the sun even in winter sometimes beat down upon the Sierra 

 Nevadas. The nights on the other hand are very cold, and luckily on 

 that occasion we were able to seek shelter for the night at the home of a 

 hermit, which had been deserted on the approach of winter for a more 

 congenial clime down the mountain. Fortunate we thought we were, as 

 the thick ice which formed that night, even within our cabin, convinced 

 us. The next day our laborious journey was rewarded by a visit with the 

 Sequoias, an experience which very few attempt in winter, and by night- 

 fall we had succeeded in getting out and dragging down to the place 

 where we had left our team a fine block of the wood, specimens from 

 which the reader now has before him. 



Contrast this with a long tramp over the burning sands of the Colorado 

 Desert, in quest of the Palo Verde and other trees of that region, with 

 a bare-headed, long-haired Indian as assistant, whose powers of endurance 

 against thirst and the intense heat are only equaled by those who, like 

 him, are inured to it, and one has an idea of what collecting the woods 

 in California means. Still, all of this has its fascination, notwithstand- 

 ing the rough places. 



Among the pleasant experiences must be mentioned the occasional 

 contact with those of kindred spirit, who are engaged in the study of 



