"To California 



piece of pleasure. I do not believe that Adam 

 and Eve ever tasted better in their balmiest 

 nook. 



The last of the Coast Range foothills were 

 in near view all the way to Gilroy. Their union 

 with the valley is by curves and slopes of inim- 

 itable beauty. They were robed with the green- 

 est grass and richest light I ever beheld, and 

 were colored and shaded with myriads of flow- 

 ers of every hue, chiefly of purple and golden 

 yellow. Hundreds of crystal rills joined song 

 with the larks, filling all the valley with music 

 like a sea, making it Eden from end to end. 



The scenery, too, and all of nature in the 

 Pass is fairly enchanting. Strange and beauti- 

 ful mountain ferns are there, low in the dark 

 canons and high upon the rocky sunlit peaks; 

 banks of blooming shrubs, and sprinklings and 

 gatherings of garment flowers, precious and 

 pure as ever enjoyed the sweets of a mountain 

 home. And oh! what streams are there! beam- 

 ing, glancing, each with music of its own, sing- 

 ing as they go, in shadow and light, onward 

 [ 189 1 



