TOUR OF GRANGERS IN CALIFORNIA. 201 



shaped and ver}- beautiful to look upon. The Old Mission Church 

 is one of the most ancient buildings, and there are also several old 

 fortifications. The town is curiously tame and seems satisfied 

 with itself. 



We arrived at Los Angeles on Monday morning, December 2, 

 and breakfasted at the station. We were then invited to carriages 

 and rode about the city and suburbs. We drove through miles of 

 vegetable gardens and orchards, which surrounded the cit}' in all 

 directions. All kinds of fruits and vegetables seem to thrive ; they 

 were in all stages of growth and represent a great industry. 

 The city is well laid out with wide streets, but while some portions 

 were well paved others were wet and muddy. Shade trees were 

 abundant ; the live-oak, pine, cypress, pepper, eucalyptus, S3'ca- 

 more, poplar, palm, etc., were most conspicuous. Orange, lemon, 

 lime, pomegranate, and fig trees were to be seen in every 3'ard, 

 and grand mountains loomed up in the distance. 



Before noon we took the cars for Alhambra, a beautiful town 

 in the San Gabriel valley, seven miles from Los Angeles ; a 

 pleasant ride of thirty minutes brought us to our destination, where 

 we dined. Teams were in readiness to conve}' us about the place 

 and through the orange groves, which seemed to occup}' all the 

 lands about. The ride was a delightful one. Everything was 

 new to us. 44,000 bearing orange trees with extensive orchards 

 and vinevards seemed to stretch away- for miles. Our time was 

 short and at 3 p. m. we were in the cars for San Diego, about 

 53 miles distant. There we arrived at dark and supped at the 

 station, after which another ride over a neck of land fifteen miles 

 long brought us to the Grand Hotel Del Coronado, where we 

 were glad to retire for the night. 



The Hotel Coronado is deservedly called one of the first hotels 

 in California. It is said to cover five acres of ground rising 

 graduallv from the beach. It contains rooming capacity for 

 twelve hundred persons. The dining room is the largest I have 

 ever seen. It is shaped like the famous Mormon Tabernacle ; is 

 finished in oak of the natural color of the wood and is beautifully 

 frescoed ; it is said that it will accommodate a thousand persons. 

 After a refreshing night's rest and an excellent breakfast, we take 

 the cars, return over the neck of land to National City, and thence 

 a distance of seven miles to Rosarito, at the Mexican line. Here 

 we find a few houses, a custom house, and some half-breeds of 



