Chapter V 



Fox-Hunting in California 



WHEN the scarlet berries of the Heteromeles 

 begin to fill and glisten in the sun, when 

 the long-pointed aromatic leaves of the 

 eucalyptus hang listless in the drowsy air, you may know 

 that summer in Southern California is on the wane. Up 

 to August, in the valleys the days have been clear and 

 warm ; in the afternoon a constant breeze blowing from 

 the sea ; the nights refreshing and cool. There has 

 been no summer humidity, no enervating days that hold 

 'on the Eastern coast. Nearly all June and July a night 

 fog has bathed the verdure and left glistening drops in 

 the morning sun, and imparted to the air a resonance 

 and tang that is delightful. 



The greens of winter have melted into brown ; the 

 lower hills are rich in tones of russet and umber, or 

 where the barley has grown a golden gray. The fox- 

 tail grass that has rippled in the sun in rivers of green 

 has turned to red or blue in its evolution to gleaming 

 gold. Down the valleys great patches of vivid green 



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