CHAPTER XVIII 



THE FATHER OF TROUT STREAMS 



IF the angler or stroller on the Pacific coast 

 along the Sierra Nevada desires diversion of 

 an impressive nature, he has but to follow some 

 of its trout streams in central California, or on 

 the coast from Santa Cruz north, and he will 

 be led by devious and radiant trails up into the 

 great forests of the world, which are the fathers 

 of trout streams in more senses than one. On 

 the coast the little rivers like the Soquel, the 

 Russian, or the San Lorenzo, of delightful 

 memory, climb up or through the forests of red- 

 wood, while the Merced and Tuolumne, if taken 

 at the lowlands, lead one to the very heart of 

 nature, to the home of the greatest forests of 

 the known world. 



As these lines were written John Muir dropped 

 in upon me and I reminded him of the story of 

 a trip he made to Australia to prove that the 

 big eucalypti were not the largest trees of the 

 world and that the claim was justly held by 

 the sequoias. He began the story one night 

 when we were at Dr. George E. Hale's, but it 



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