Chaparral 129 
embodies the personality of this land and 
as much as any feature differentiates it from 
other Western country. It might seem, to 
one unfamiliar with it, that this could only be 
monotonous, but such is not the case. It is 
true, perhaps, that to one accustomed to the 
woods only—a tenderfoot, that is—the love 
of the desert and the chaparral country is an 
acquired taste. It is equally true that having 
once acquired that taste there is ever af- 
terwards a certain insipidness about such 
densely timbered hills as the Adirondacks. 
We miss the gaunt structure of the moun- 
tains. Chaparral is not sufficient in itself 
to conceal their outlines and in the distance 
is no more than a green mantle without 
thickness through which protrude the rocky 
ribs. That mantle is made up of many 
different shrubs and here and there in the 
interstices and along roads and trails are 
many delightful plants. 
Surely this mysterious barrier of the Santa 
Inez does conceal another and different 
country, for on the spurs and ranges beyond 
was no such thick covering of chaparral, but 
the sparse, stunted, and interrupted growth 
of the arid region. The immediate slope of 
course was like the summit, but lower down 
9 
