OUR COUNTRY LIFE 



stumbles upon a comfortable wooden bench beneath 

 a giant oak, be sure to make obeisance to this same' 

 beneficent being, who is never happier than when shar- 

 ing his clever conceptions. 



On arriving in July one year we found two hollowed- 

 out granite bowlders about two feet in diameter on the 

 floor of the dog-trot. Curiously smooth was the in- 

 side, and their purpose was so evident that I exclaimed 

 at once, "What beautiful bird-baths! But where did 

 they come from?" 



Upon investigation we learned that they had a name 

 and a history. In the early days of California, as else- 

 where, the Indian women ground their corn on granite 

 stones called metatas, which in the course of years grew 

 hollow with the work. But let our good friend tell 

 us in his own words how and where he found them: 

 "We went down shooting quail — about eight miles on 

 the trolley and about as far driving — before sunrise, 

 in the Tia Juana valley south of San Diego. There 

 had been a heavy fog in the night. When the sun rose, 

 as far as the eye could see, every blade of grass and 



26 



