Preface v 



and San Diego, or, in brief, the lower part of the 

 State. 



The conditions are so different from those in 

 Eastern America, the winter being the season of 

 flowers, the entire year an open one, inviting sports and 

 varied pastimes, that I have tried to convey to the reader 

 some idea of "life in the open" in the various seasons, 

 what to expect winter, or summer, in this land of the 

 palm and orange, and to a certain extent to answer 

 some of the questions relating to the country which I 

 have often been asked. Thus, to the world at large, 

 Southern California is merely a winter resort. This is 

 a popular misconception. It is, to my mind at least, 

 a far better summer resort, and the dwellers along its 

 shores and among the channel islands know an almost 

 perfect summer climate, and never experience the intense 

 often deadly, heat of the Atlantic seaboard. The truth 

 about Southern California is that it is an all-the-year- 

 round land, where it can honestly be said the disagreeable 

 features of life and climate are reduced to the minimum. 



Southern California is so cosmopolitan that it belongs 

 to all America, and in this oasis between the desert and 

 the deep sea the country has a possession that will 

 prove in years to come one of its most valuable assets. 

 Yesterday it was a great ranch ; to-day it is a principal- 

 ity, and has taken its place among the great and active 

 centres of life, health, and commerce of the world. 



C. F. H. 



PASADENA, CALIFORNIA. 



