ISifJ 



<;i,i:anin(;s ix hkk (Ti/itiik. 



in 



>lii|)lif(l !)>• <nir assoriatioii lii>I year. We sliip- 

 |M'il l.">:.7tHl llis. cxtiaclcd liorii'V. IS'.t.'.MO iicl : 

 TS.iMHi Ills, cuiiili hdiicy. ".'u.iiii'.' iM't: ci^^lit car- 

 loatls: two went lo Nrw >'imI<. the icsi to Clii- 

 (•airo. .1. A. K. IiaiNi;. 



IMiiriiix. Aii/.oiia. l-i'li. 1">. 



Notes of Travel 



FROM A. I. ROOT. 



.\M«>N(. nil. i;i;k-ki;ki'i:i!s in tiik .mointai.ns. 



As uc wiTi' stamiiii'i on tlu' i>oroh at friend 

 Moivim'.s. taikiiisr about it. wiiat should friend 

 M. set' l)ut an oeean sleaniei? Slie was to leave 

 at luilf-pasl ten. and so we liad to luistje. I was 

 told tlie Methodist minister and wife wanted 

 to meet me. even if for only a very few niiiuites. 

 so we hail a lilile talk: bin 1 hardly felt satis- 

 lied, ami it seemed they didn't ei llier, for they 

 came after us down to tiie wharf. Friend Mer- 

 cer and his wife had consented to go too, and 

 we four got the minister and his wife on board, 

 sent back word to their friends, and took them 

 witli us. just as tliey were. Tiie Ivev. Mr. Pet- 

 tinger. of Ventura, has a strange history. When 

 he was a young man. during the days of the re- 

 bellion, lie. with about twenty others, captured 

 a train in the South, and attempted to run it iiii 

 into our lines. So many freight and other kinds 

 of trains were in the way. however, that they 

 got only al)out a hundred miles. They were ta- 

 ken, and eight of their number wei-e put to 

 death at once. The remaining twelve or foui- 

 tpen, with death right before them, went down 

 on their knees and made their peace with (Jod 

 as best they could under such circuinstanci<. 

 At, this crisis our government interfered ami 

 succeeded in stopping the executions, and friend 

 P. linally made his escape. Well, how did all 

 this " death-bed repentance'' turn out? I am 

 very glad to say that the most of them lived 

 good pure Christian lives ever after: and friend 

 P.. after that experience, gave his life to tlir 

 ministry. Now. please don't scoff or langli ai 

 this, any of you. These twenty or more youn- 

 men had volunteered to give their lives in tin- 

 .service of their country. Nay, more: like tln' 

 man who undertook to blow up the iron-clad 

 gunboat bidonging to the South, they volun- 

 teered a task that was almost sure death. They 

 were men of no ordinary courage and bravery. 

 Such men. when they dropped on their knees 

 together, and said. " Lord, have mercy on me a 

 sinner," meant, as a rule, w hat they said, deal h 

 or no death, and so it turned out. I wondi i 

 how often they remcmljer that solemn and kh- 

 fiil little prayer-meeting. Do they sometinn - 

 have a reunion and talk it over? Very like] \ 

 this printed page will meet the eye of one or 

 more of them, for (ri.EAXiNGS i.s now read fui - 

 ther and wider than many of us know. If I am 

 correct, every one of that fourteen knelt and 

 prayed. Von. my friend, have probably, at 

 some time in your life, promised (Jod. in a simi- 

 lar way. to be(/oor7and trite. Have you kept that 

 promise? 



Well, that boat-ride to Santa Barbara was 

 one long to be remembered. P'or the first time 

 we saw pelicans in their native state. They 

 were so wild, however, it was only by the aid of 

 a glass that we could get a view of their strange 

 ■'dinner-basket.'" as some one called it — the ap- 

 pendage, or sack, that hangs from the under 

 side o'f the bill. The bird is about as large as a 

 good -sized goose, with long wide-spreading 

 wings. We also saw the wonderful marine 

 plant called kelp, or giant seaweed. The root 

 is something like a great onion; and the trunk. 



wiih its bushy foliage, is like a great tree. As 

 it grows in water Iroin l:J to :.'() feet deep, it is a 

 plant of no small dimensions. As it reaches the 

 surface, long branches, or leaf-stems, extend 

 out in iveiy diieciion. some of lliein almost or 

 (luiie :.'() feet long. Thuseaidi plain covers an 

 immense surface. Sometimes the foliage is of a 

 beautiful lich red. not unlike the colors of au- 

 tumn leaves. 



The mayor id' Santa Uarbaia was very sick 

 with the grip, and our time was too limited to 

 reach any (jf the oiln r liee-fi lends, so uc visited 

 the old museum there, ami took the cars back. 

 This miiM'iim is still kept up, and veritable 

 •■ monks "" of olden time have i^ in charge. The 

 most of them niMther s(>e any one of thi' outside 

 world, nor are they to be seen. Vi-^itoi-s ai'e 

 permitted to go into one small room, iiiid they 

 can also go into the church. Some of tlie old 

 paintings in the church are very line, and ])rob- 

 ably (|uite valuable. They would be very help- 

 ful in oui- modi'iii Sunday-schools andl'.ible- 

 teaching. and perhaps they are used in some 

 similar way— we hope so. I do hope, however, 

 that the idea that any human being can be a 

 bettei' C'hrislian by being kept out of sight, and 

 away from humanity, may soon be unknown in 

 any clime. ■• I pra.v not that thou snonldest 

 take th(!in out of the world, but that thou 

 shouldest keep them from the evil." 



.1. (.. ( ■•\:l.\. 



Our older readers will ivmember the story of 

 tiie cold-blast smoker, and the part that friend 

 Corey, of Santa Paula, had to do with it. We 

 stayed with him over night, and he gav(! us 

 many valuable facts in regard to the introduc- 

 tion of Italian bi'cs into California. In l.S.V.) he 

 paid SIOO for a single colony, and then carried 

 them on foot one humlred miles, and walked 

 on snow-shoes to do it. He made a light case, 

 to hold .iust combs enough to take bees and 

 stores (only :«) lbs.), and strapped it on his back. 

 As he had been employed by an express coin[)a- 



