162 



F0RES1 AND STREAM. 



not rudely, but. iuquiringly, at the apparition of a half 

 drowned traveler. Seated' before n.n immense wood fire, 

 which roared and crackled up the wide chimney, ami gave 

 both light and heat to the apartment, the events of the 

 past few hours seemed like a dream. To my host 1 ex- 

 plained in a few words the mifihap which had befallen ine, 

 and received an assurance that I was weleeme to his house. 

 "We don't see many strangers in Ibis out of the way 

 spot," said he, "and my giTla will be delighted to hear all 

 you can tell them about" the Eastern cities and the fash 

 ions." 



I turned to the "girls" for ft confirmation of their father's 

 remark, but beyond a few blushes and sly glances at each 

 othei-, they continued to busy themselves in preparations 

 for supper. While those were progressing, the old gentle- 

 man and myself entered into conversation, "and I discovered 

 under whose roof I had found shelter Col Forrester— 

 to whom, us luck would have it, I was in possession of a 

 letter Of introduction from one of the. magnates of San 

 Fruncisco— was one of the "Argonauts of '49," who, in- 

 stead of searching for a golden fleece, contented himself 

 with a woolly one, and, leaving Ohio with a band of some 

 five hundred sheep and cattle, after a weary journey across 

 the plains succeeded in reaching California with a larger 

 portion of bis herd. Resisting all temptations to go to The 

 mines, he purchased, for a song, a large tract of land in 

 the Santa Clam Valley, and cmra^ed steadily i" the raising 

 of sheep. His herds increased with wonderful rapiditv, and 

 a few years previous to the'time of my visit his land, be- 

 coming too valuable for sheep pastures* he had sold it at an 

 enormous profit and moved his Hock, now fifty thousand 

 Strong, to a newly purchased ranehe on the lower const. 

 Shortly alter las ra-riva! in the Stale, he hwJ married a na- 

 tive California lady, daughter of one of the old Rancheros. 

 whose name is identified with the history of the country.' 

 His family now consisted of two sons, "who wen; tit col- 

 lege, Mid the two daughters, with whom i was rapidly be- 

 coming acquainted, in person the Colonel was a magnifi- 

 cent specimen of physical manhood — tall, broad shouldered, 

 and burned and hardened by exposure to the sun. A heavy 

 beard, a lillle grizzled by age, concealed most of his face, 

 and fell far down on his chest. His deep blue eyes indi- 

 cate! frankness, and a wide, high forehead bespoke great 

 intelligence. 



'Tou see, Mr. Irving," said he, "I like the occupation, 

 and it suits me at my time of life better than anything I 

 could engage in elsewhere. What my boys and girls will 

 do after I'm gone I can't, tell, but 'I'm' too old now to 

 change. The boys are away East at college, and the girls 

 ought to be there, loo, but their mother won't hear of their 

 leaving home. (It may have have been selfish, but I in- 

 wardly lhauked I he senora.) I'm afraid I hey are growing 

 up very ignorant, but if they marry among "our neighbors 

 that won't matter much. (Mentally, I almost resolved that 

 if Miss Anita did not finish her education in New York it 

 would not be tor want of an invitation.) You see," con- 

 tinued the Colonel, "although we've been married these 

 twenty odd years, my wife don't, speak a word at English, 

 and never will. She understands almost everything, but 

 somehow or other, whether it is pride or not, I don't know T ; 

 very few of the natives of this country will learn our lan- 

 guage, and many of them are as bitter against the 'Grin- 

 gos' as they were in '48; but here's supper; sit to, sit to." 

 The young ladies, assisted by some dark skinned hand- 

 maidens, placed the smoking dishes of frijoles and chickens 

 Colorado, stewed rhi'.ix, and platters piled high with wafer- 

 like tortillas on the table, all of which were, relished with a 

 traveler's appetite. After supper the Colonel and I filled 

 our pipes, and, drawing around the fire, the charming little 

 family circle made me rejoice, again at my lucky star. The 

 roguish, charming, black-eyed Anita and her older but 

 equally lovely sister, Inez, busied themselves with their 

 embroidery, "the senora devoted herself to the family re- 

 pairing and mending, and the Colonel and myself smoked 

 pipe alter pipe while he recounted to me h.s experiences of 

 early days. But fatigue at last gelling the better of me, I 

 plea"ded it as an excuse, and was" shown to the neatest of 

 rooms, with a bed on which the sheets, pillow cases, and 

 ecu Uie snow white spread, were trimmed with the lace 

 so heautifully worked by the native California!) woman. 

 Overhead, a picture of some martyred saint gazed with 

 calm complacency upon my heavy slumbers. 



The words of the simple Spanish soug, describing the 

 little shepherdess coming from her cabin in the early morn- 

 iug, when the dew was on the roses, was the first sound 

 Which greeted me when I awoke, and I recognized the 

 voice of my host's youngest daughter, as she sang in the 

 courtyard under my window, Hurriedly I made my toilet 

 and stepped out on the verandah. Mies Anita's back being 

 towards me, 1 had ample time while leaning over the rail- 

 ing to watch her trimming and tending the plants with 

 which the centre of the courtyard was filled. From her 

 perfect feet, with their high arched insteps and delicate 

 ankles, to her head, covered with heavy braids of black 

 hail', everything about her trim, neat little figure was as 

 strictly til regie — barring any disfiguring frizzes— as though 

 she had just graduated from a fashionable boarding school. 

 NiUutid her Sister differed, in that the former had large, 

 lustrous brown eyes, and her clearer complexion showed 

 the Anglo Saxon in her origin. Inez resembled more her 

 mother; her eyes were black, and her figure already exhib- 

 ited a tendency to that embonpoint which, after the pri- 

 iui<;rt:jeuiie,sxe, is the fate of the women of the country. 



The song finished, N ita turned and discovered the au- 

 dience. "Ah! seuor, you've been listening, have you? If 

 t had known that 1 should have sung something not very 

 eompliiuenlarv to the Gringos." 



" Vou would have been loo cruel; and as you are half a 

 One i .'Mi-sell' you would have had to share the odium." 



" Ves, but you know I was born here, so I am a native 

 Califoruian. ~ Not that I'm very proud of my Spanish 

 blood, for it makes me dreadfully wicked sometimes." 



" I 7 ou wicked? and with all this loveliness about you? 

 I can't helieve it. It seems like fairy laud to me," 



The orange trees towering above the roof of the house 

 still had a few of the golden fruit peering from among the 

 dark green leaves, and some late blossoms exhaled a deli- 

 cious perfume. A group of oleanders, grown to the size 

 of small trees, were covered with clusters of fragrant pink 

 flowers. Lemon verbenas, also thick stalked trees, added 

 their perfume, while around the fountain in the centre of 

 the couityard were masses of heliotrope, tube roses, fus- 

 chias, and other plant* unknown to me by name. On each 



limbing roses of different, st- 

 andard in less favored climes, 

 utv almdHt incredible. 

 " said iNita, "but you've seen 



pillar of the verandah wen 

 rielies, many ol them only 

 here attaining a size and b< 

 ■'Our country is beautifu 

 nothing of it. ' Come to thi 

 the view from there I shall expec' you i'o B 8y that Santa 

 Monica is the loveliest spot on earth". Of course, I ve had 

 no opportunity of comparing it with other places, but all 

 our guests say so, and i quite believe it." 



My little friend tri;pcd after me up the steep staircase 

 to the roof covered with asphaltum and pebhles, and 

 pointed out the various places of interest in the neighbor- 

 hood. "Nature never painted a fairer picture, and it re- 

 quired uo effort to produce the enthusiasm which she ex- 

 pected. 



In front of the house, and beyond the enclosed orchards, 

 a smooth, grass-covered plain stretched for a mile or more 

 to the cliff which formed the barrier to the Pacific. The 

 C28SB, glistening m the sun was apparently as sni";;ili is 

 glass. Although not in sight, being hidden by the cliffs, 

 we could hear the sullen roar of the. surf as it 'broke upon 

 the coast. To the right the line of dark tree tops, appear- 

 ing above I he level of the plain, marked the line of the 

 canon where 1 had found my deliverance the night before. 

 Looking inland, the mka, or table land, on which were 

 scattered with park-like regularity numbers of magnificent 

 live oaks, stretched away for five or six miles, until it 

 gradually joined the foothills of the Sierra Madres. The 

 oaks, growing thicker and thicker, until they became a 

 forest, formed a dark green belt for the mighty mountain 

 range, which, scarred and seamed with canons and gulches, 

 rose to the height of six or seven thousand feet. 'In some 

 of the upper canons, and on the summit of the highest 

 peaks, the snow was still unmelted. In various directions 

 little columns of smoke marked where the sheep herders, 

 iu care of the several flocks, had their camps, and bands of 

 horses and cattle were feeding at different places on the 

 plain. 



About the ranehe, or rather about the house — for every- 

 thing in sight, except, perhaps, the mountains and the sea, 

 comprises 'the ranehe— were orchards of almost every de- 

 scription of fruit. English walnuts, olives, and almonds; 

 oranges, lemons, and iimes, as well as the more homely, 

 but none the less valuable, apple, pear, and peach, as also 

 apricots, nectarines, and figs, were growing in the. greatest 

 profusion. On oue side was a vineyard covering many 

 acres of ground, and on the other the stables, outbuildings, 

 and barns, all of which were of a quality very superioiMo 

 wdiat is Common in the country. A ditch'of water, brought 

 from the canon a mile or two above the house, and carried 

 skilfully along at, the proper level, Supplied the necessary 

 means for irrigating all these trees, for this wonderful 

 growth of orchard and flower garden would come to ruin 

 if left to the care of Nature alone, the fickle dame not pro- 

 viding one drop of rain from May until October. 



"Look, Mr. Irving, at. that bright spot on the side of the 

 mountains. Every Spring, before the. rains have quite left 

 us, it appears there. We call it our flower garden, and, 

 although it seems so near, if is miles and miles away. It 

 is one bed, a mile or so square, of wild flowers. The 

 golden, tulip-like escholsia predominating, gives it. its 

 bright yellow shade. I don't know whether Iliave gotten 

 the name correctly, but a very learned gentleman from San 

 Francisco, who was here not long since, told me it was 

 named after a celebrated German botanist, who was flic 

 first to discover it." 



"It is indeed wonderful. And what, is that 1 i" tie house 

 I see almost halfway up the mountain, at the mouth of 

 the canon?" 



"That is a bee. ranehe, and the residence of our hunter, 

 old Grizzly Bill, as they call him. You will make his ac- 

 quaintance before long. Now look up the coast, and vou 

 will see a large gray building with a number of little white- 

 washed houses about it. That is the old mission church, 

 and the buildings, together with many little jacuis, or huts., 

 built of rushes, which you cannot see, comprise the ran- 

 cUrie, where live a few 'Mexican families and the Indians, 

 or their descendants, who were first christianized by the 

 padres. You must ride over there and call on Father An- 

 tonio, He has been here ever so many years — long before 

 I was born — and he can tell you all about the earlier dnyB 

 Of the country, when cattle' were valued only for their 

 hides and tallow, and the native families had more dollars 

 than they have centados now. And you can practice your 

 Spanish with some of the senoritas." 



"Thank you, Miss Anila, but I don't think I'll have to 

 go off the ranehe to do that." 



"Not with me, senor. I never speak in Spanish when I 

 can get any one to talk English. Inez, now, prefers to, 

 but you must not be too attentive, or you will make Pablo 

 jealous." 



"Pablo! and wdio is he, may 1 ask?" 

 "Don Pablo de la Cruz, who, I imagine, is to be my 

 brother-in-law, is the son of one of our "neighbors. You 

 will probably see him, as he is bete every day." 



"And who is to he jealous if I am too attentive to Miss 

 Anita?" 



"That, sir, you must discover for yourself; but in the 

 meantime allow me to suggest that if we keep the house- 

 hold waiting for their breakfast they will be jealous, or 

 even worse." 



So we descended, and, making my salutations to the 

 family, I entered upon the business in' baud with a conva- 

 lescent's appetite. 



The first word I uttered aboul proceeding on my journey 

 brought out a protest from Col. Forrester, and the discus- 

 sion ended by my accepting an invitation to remain a week, 

 or perhaps "more, at Santa Monica. Said the Colonel: 

 "You will find plenty to amuse you, particularly if you 

 are fond of shooting and fishing. " We have a regular hun- 

 ter about the establishment, who, by the way, is quite a 

 character, and who can take you to where you can kill 

 anything, from a jack rabbit to a grizzly bear. I ride over 

 the ranehe every day, looking out for the Shepherds, so you 

 must not, expect much attention from me, but the girls and 

 Pablo will be glad to ride about the country with you. 

 There is much at the old mission that is interesting and 

 characteristic of the times before the annexation, and if 

 you could get at the records, and translate some of them, 

 I have uo doubt that much could be found to throw light 

 upon thfl early colonization by the Jesuits." 



The prospect, seemed so well suited to my present con- 

 dition of mind aud body that 1 immediately arranged to 

 send a message to my traveling companion to go on with- 

 out me, aud prepared to enter "with zest into the new life. 

 [To bu Continued utU vmh,\ 



For Forest and Sir mm, 

 A PISCATORIAL. EXCURSION TO MAINE. 



AFTER an all-night ride of 250 miles in a Pullman 

 sleeping car from Boston, I found myself at Bangor, 

 at the head of ship navigation on the Penobscot. The tide 

 rises at this point seventeen feet, enabling vessels of the 

 largest size to reach the city. Bangor being the centre of a 

 large foreign and domestic trade and the homo of a number 

 of brothers of the angle, it would have afforded me 

 pleasure to stop over a day, hut my time being limited I 

 pushed onward by rail, reaciiing Dover and Foxeroft, fifty- 

 two miles further North, in time for dinner. These vil- 

 lages are really but one place, being divided by but a small 

 stream, the Piscataquis River. Having accepted an invita- 

 tion from that thorough sportsman and unsurpassed rod- 

 maker, Mr. Hiram L. Leonard, of Bangor, to visit theSlale 

 Fish Works at the head of Sehec Lake, of which he is 

 Superintendent, after partaking of an excellent meal at the 

 Foxeroft Exchange, we started for the lake, four miles dis- 

 tant. Our parly consisted of Mr. Leonard and wife, his 

 father-in-law, Henry A. Head, Esq., and myself. The Ex- 

 change conveyance carried us comfortably over a good 

 road to the steamboat, landing, which is equidistant from 

 the inlet, and outlet, We stowed ourselves and burgage in 

 a sailboat, and with a gentle breeze we soon reached the 

 head of this beautiful sheet of water, which is twelve miles 

 long and upwards of 600 feet deep in its deepest part. 

 Although Mr. Head is well on to four score years, I found 

 htm as enthusiastic a sportsman as most of the younger 

 members of the fraternity. On our way up the lake be 

 captured and landed in fine style a beautiful fresh-water, 

 land-locked, salmon. Never having seen one of the fish be- 

 fore, my attention was at once given to a careful enumer- 

 ation of the liu rays, &c, and to general admiration of his 

 symmetrical outline. Two days were spent, pleasantly at 

 the works, during wdiich I succeeded in killing, on my 6£ 

 ounce split bamboo, two salmon. Chartering a convey- 

 ance at Foxeroft landing, I reached Monson, sixteen miles, 

 in time for supper; ami" Greenville, twelve miles further, 

 before the starting time of the morning boat upMoosehead 

 Lake. By this management I saved one-day's time, as by 

 the regular train and stage I would not have reached the 

 lake until evening. Moosehead is the largest sheet of fresh- 

 water in New England, being about forty miles long, and 

 in its widest part seventeen miles. There are two hotels at 

 the foot, (Greenville) Henry i. Wilson's at the outlet, the 

 Mount Kinneo House, half way up the lake, commodious, 

 charmingly situaled and well-conducted; and at the head, 

 or northeast carry, C. J. Jordon keejis a house. A long 

 wharf has lately been constructed here, so that passengers 

 can at all times'be landed without resorting to small boats. 

 For fishing at this time 1 went to the outlet. The first 

 evening 1 caught three speckled trout, weighing five pounds; 

 the next day I added seventeen, weighing twenty-two 

 pounds, the largest one of which weighed four pounds, 

 and measured twenty-two inches in length. They were all 

 takeu on the fly and'G} ounce bamboo. In the evening I 

 killed my fish, which had been kept alive in caufs, selected 

 fourteen, weighing twenty-three pouuds, wiped off with 

 towels all blood and slime, and wit bout dressing them 

 wrapped each fish in a separate, piece of paper, so as to ex- 

 clude the air as much as possible, and packed them in a 

 box without ice. Forty-eight hours after, when some of 

 the fish were eaten, they were to the palate apparently as 

 fresh as those just taken out of the water, and the balance, 

 served fourteen hours later, were in equally good condition. 

 I have made many trips to the Adirondack's, but this is my 

 first, to Maine, and I hope not my last. 1 arrived home 

 October 3d, fully satisfied with this closing of my angling 

 season. Yours respectfully, 



Albany, A r . Y. , Oct. 12, 1874. " W. W. Hill. 



For FOHii and Sl/eam. 

 VACATION RESORTS IN NEW HAMP- 

 SHIRE. 



/ 



IT is not generally known to what extent the old State of 

 New Hampshire is used as a summer resort by the 

 people of Massachusetts, New York and Connecticut. A 

 trip through the State would, I think, reveal the fact that 

 no town in the Stale is devoid of its quota of city boarders, 

 many, of course, in the small towns being attracted there 

 by the love of childhood homes, while in "the more moun- 

 tainous districts we find the lovers of all that is wild, grand 

 and sublime iu nature. The White Mountains are already 

 rendered immortal; even the Muses, when guiding poetical 

 genius, have seen fit to point tlieir wand towards them 

 Cheshire County, though less world-renowned, is an inter- 

 esting locality, and as we find on spending a season there, is 

 well'known and appreciated by many hundreds. It, lies in 

 the southwest corner of the State, having Massachusetts on 

 its Southern border and Vermont on the West, being sep- 

 arated from the latter State by flic noble Connecticut River. 

 The Ashuelot River and tributaries drain the county, with 

 the exception of the northeast part, which is reached by 

 the arms of the Merrimac. 



The infant City of Keene is the Hub of the County, and 

 by many travellers said to be the prettiest in it; it being 

 laid out "in clean, wide streets, and adorned with a profu- 

 sion of shade trees, many fine residences, churches and 

 hotels. The greatest natural attraction is the Grand Mon- 

 aduock, twelve miles from Keene, in the eastern portion of 

 the county. This has no rivals near, but stands out alone 

 in the rugged country at its feet, a proud landmark for 

 many miles around, for its head towers thirty-live hundred 

 feet above the sea level. A nice carriage road is built to 

 Within one mile of the top, at which place we (iud the 

 Mountain Mouse, containing forty rooms, well furnished 

 aud well kept by Messrs. Newton & flalcheller. The num- 

 ber of people spending ihe season at this house, as well as 

 the transient tourists, Is yearly increasing. The distance to 

 the summit, one mile, is made on foot, for with a consider- 

 able outlay it has been made but little more difficult of 

 ascent than a flight or stone steps. 



The summit affords a view but seldom surpassed. The 

 eye at, once rests on a country of hill, valley, field aud 

 forest, with sixty ponds and lakes and thirty-eight villages, 

 till mingled in "Nature's order, with the summits of the 

 White mountain range. Kearsarge, Hoosac, Ascutney 

 Tour and llolvoke iu the distance, whUe with a glass we 

 see Portsmouth Harbor and our own Bunker Hill Monu- 

 ment, All these ponds abound with pickerel and perch; a 

 few only have the "speckled beauty," which, however, is 

 found in nearly every creek. I took a string of twenty 



