CHAPTER XXII 



OFF THE SIERRA SANTA CRUZ 



YOU might search some maps all day and not 

 find the name Soquel, but this is the fault of 

 the map-makers. Soquel is a little town 

 along the Coast Range near the Bay of Monterey 

 in California; a hamlet of cool winds, fragrant rose 

 gardens, of fields of grain reaching up to splendid 

 forests of redwood which form the sky lines every- 

 where alongshore back into the Santa Cruz range as 

 far as the eye can reach. Among the verse of David 

 Starr Jordan one particular poem, which he has 

 called " Viverols " has always had a fascination for 

 me, and with his permission I quote the following : 



" Beyond the sea, I know not where, 

 There is a town called Viverols; 



I know not if 'tis near or far, 



I know not what its features are, 

 I only know 'tis Viverols. 



" I know not if its ancient walls 



By vine and moss be overgrown; 

 I know not if the night-owl calls 

 From feudal battlements of stone, 

 Inhabited by him alone. 

 322 



