NEW YORK, THURSDAY, OCT. 29, 1874. 



THE CHURCH SPIDER. 



TWO spiders, so the story gi .: -, 

 Upon a living bent, 

 Entered the meeting-Souse one day. 

 And liup.-fnlly ivoiv heard to say— 

 "Here WO will have at least, fatr piny, 

 Willi nothing to prevent." 



Each chose his place and 



wont to wc 



Thii light ■webs grew ap 





Diiteon the. niter spun Hie 



thread, 



But shortly came the sex 



on dread, 



And swept him off, and s 



o half dead 



ne Bought another plac 





'Til try the pulpit next," said he. 



"There, surely, is a prize; 

 The desk appears so neat and clean, 

 I'm sure no spider there has been- 

 BesfdoO] how often have I seen 



The pastor brushing dies." 



He tried the pulpit, tall ahisl 



His hopes proved visionary: 

 With dusting brush the sexton came, 

 And spoiled Ms geometric game, 

 2sor gave him time or space to claim 



The right of sanctuary. 



At. length, half starved and weak and lean 

 He sought his former neighbor, 



Who now had grown so sleek and round, 



He weighed a fraction of a pound. 



And looked as if the art. he'd found 

 Of living without labor. 



"How is it, friend," he asked, "that, I 



Endure such thumps and knocks, 

 While you have grown so very gross?" 

 " 'Tis plain," he answered— "not a loss 

 I've met, since first I spun across 

 The contribution box," 



gnntd <^ouicn. 



For Fore*/ tulfl St.rrdlh. 



RANCHE LIFE IN SOUTHERN CALI- 

 FORNIA. 



BV WAf. St. TILESTON. 



The Colonel went oil to liis sheep, and I was left with 

 the young ladies to make our plans for the day, or, rather, 

 with Miss Nita, for ou her the charge of the guest seemed 

 to devolve. Inez went lo the gates and gazed off on (he 

 plain in search of the expected Pablo. 



"What sliall we do," said Nita, "would you like to 

 ride?" 



"Thank you; yesterday's experience was quite sufficient 

 for the present. If agreeable to you 1 would rat her re- 

 main quiet, or take a walk down the canon and look at 

 the surf." 



Miss Anila assented lo this proposition, and offered me 

 a gun, saying that there were numbers of curlew and snipe 

 on the beach; but being too indolent to carry the weight. I 

 declined. So we strolled out of the house and through 

 the canon. The stream still rushed wildly over the huge 

 boulders as we wandered along its bank and under the 

 giant sycamores, and clearing the shadow of the glen 

 reached the soft sandy shore of the ocean. Not the tur- 

 bulent old monster of the previous day, but still with its 

 great respirations rolling in and tumbling in foaming and 

 sparkling masses on the beach. There is something in Ihe 

 climate of southern California which, while bracing and 

 invigorating; is still strongly suggestive of the doln jur 

 uiente to which the dry and pure air and the bright Ital- 

 ian sky largely contribule. In the full enjoyment of the 

 laziness born of the warm sun and the poetical sur- 

 roundings of the place, I threw myself at full length on a 

 little stip of turf under a tree, while my companion con- 

 tented herself with a seat on a rock near by. The tide 

 was at the full flood, and the little foam-edged waves 

 rushed gaily up to the line of sea weed and other debris 

 which marked the highest water line. Dozens of sea birds 



were topping the breakers' crests in search of food, and, 

 as Nita had prophesied, numbers of curlew whistled over 

 our heads, and little llocks of sand snipe, or ami-giton (little 

 friends), were now showing brown, and now flashing white, 

 as they wheeled and turned in the sun. 



"Don Guillermo" — the little witch had discovered my 

 baptismal name, and addressed me accordingly — "do you 

 see that great mound some distance clown the beach?" 



"Yes, senorka liuda, I do see the mound, and to me it 

 resembles nothing more than a giant's grave without the 

 tombstone." 



"Well, then, illustrissime senor yankee, your guess is 

 quite correct; it is a grave, and of a giant. Under that 

 heap of sand lie the remains of an immense whale, which 

 was thrown up there during a storm two or three years 

 ago. Gradually the surf lifted him higher and higher, and 

 other gales blowed the sand around him until he was en- 

 tirely covered, as you see him now." 



The Colonel afterwards told me that this monster, which 

 was nearly one hundred feet in length, actually remained 

 there until the sand had covered him without emitting any 

 offensive effluvia. Such is the dryness and purity of the 

 atmosphere that the natives cure their meat by cutting it 

 in strips and hanging it in the sun to dry. 



"Miss Anita, yon are telling me a fish story, but I be- 

 lieve you. In fact, I believe everything I'm told. I came 

 a skeptic, and returned convinced. I cam swallow any- 

 thing now, from a thousand pound beet to a six inch straw- 

 berry, or even a whale. It is not exactly veni, vedi, vici, 

 for I came, saw, and was conquered. Miss Nita, apropos 

 of the wonders of this country, I want to ask you a ques- 

 tion." 



"Well, sir, proceed; I am all attention." 



"Do you permit compliments?" 



"Only in Spanish, sir: they are quite harmless in that 

 language, but they might frighten me in English. So if 

 you are preparing any pretty speeches, just remember my 

 injunction." 



"And have yon laugh at me for my pains. No, Miss 

 Nita, your 'trap to catch a sunbeam' wou't work, and if I 

 must not say it in English, the compliment is lost forever.'' 



Over my head the flies were dancing cotillions among 

 the branches of the tree. A little ground squirrel had 

 come out. of his bole near by me, and was apparently cogi- 

 tating whether it would be safe for him to make a visit, to 

 his neighbor over the way. After a long silence, "Miss 

 Nita," said I, "won't you close that incongruity iu the 

 shape of a parasol, which you hold in your hand, and risk 

 your complexion for a little while. I cannot get even a 

 glimpse of your face." 



Nita changed her position so as to face me, and threw 

 the obnoxious parasol over her shoulder. 



"There, sir, does that suit your lordship any bettor? But 

 mind, you are not to stare at me in that manner, or I shall 

 put the parasol between us again." 



"Pardon me, please, Miss Nita, but you see you are such 

 a different type of young lady to that I have been accus- 

 tomed, that I cannot help looking at you in wonder and 

 amazement." 



"Am I to take that as a compliment, senor, or the re- 

 verse?" 



"Can you doubt which? Of all the lovely productions 

 of this remarkable country you are the loveliest I have yet 

 seen." 



Down came the parasol like a flash, and all I could see 

 of my fair companion was the lower part of her brown 

 dress. The startled flies broke up their cotillion, and es- 

 corted their partners back to seats ou the boughs. The 

 little squirrel was frightened, and whisking his tail tumbled 

 back in his hole, and a woodpecker, who had been tapping 

 assiduously for half an hour, stopped to listen. 



"Miss Nita;" no answer. "Miss Forrester, are you an- 

 gry with me?" Still no reply, "lam really sorry, Miss 

 Nita; please forgive me." 



This time the parasol was moved a little one side, and I 



could see my companion's great brown eyes looking very 

 solemnly al me. 



"I am not angry, Mr. Irving, but it is very wicked and 

 unkind in you to lmike fun of me. I am not quite so fool- 

 ish as you imagine. But come, Mr. Laziness, we must go 

 home now; you can finish your siesta after dinner. If the 

 weather continues warm while you are here, we will all 

 come down some day and have a glorious bath in the surf. 

 Later in the Summer numbers of families come from far 

 inland, and, camping under the trees, spend weeks in bath- 

 ing and fishing." 



We sauntered back to the house, and I was duly intro- 

 duced to Miss Inez' lover. Senor Don Pablo de la Cruz 

 was a splendid specimen of a race which, alas ! is fast de- 

 generating under the influence of the "Argonauts" into the 

 typical gambling and cock-fighting Mexican. Fortunately, 

 in this immediate neighborhood, there being little to at- 

 tract the cupidity of the miner or money lender, a few of 

 the old families still remained uncontaminated. Before 

 the discovery of gold they lived in Arcadian simplicity, 

 surrounded by their flocks and herds. Nature supplied 

 nearly all their necessities, and the proceeds of the hides 

 and tallow, sold at the ports of Santa Barbara, San Pedro, 

 and San Diego, procured them luxuries in abundance. 

 With vines growing almost without labor, the padres at 

 the different missions taught them how to turn their grapes, 

 though by the most primitive process, into wine, and from 

 the same source they learned the cultivation of many 

 fruits and cereals, which added to their wealth and com- 

 fort. ■ 



Thirty years ago the traveler could go from one end of 

 the State to the other, finding a welcome at every ranche, 

 and a fresh horse or money, if he required either, to held 

 him ou his journey. But now, fiery whiskey and o.guu- 

 diente have taken the place o'f wine, and their lands have 

 been torn from them by unprincipled usurers, who, by fos- 

 tering and encouraging the gambling instinct inherent in 

 the race, have enriched themselves at their victims' ex- 

 pense. Even Nature, once so prodigal, seemed to have 

 turned against them, for in 1S62-3 two successive years of 

 severe drought carried off almost the last remnant of their 

 once immense herds of cattle. No wonder that they hate 

 the "Gringos," or yankees, and curse the bitter day which 

 brought the gold-seeking hordes to rob them of their in- 

 heritance. The old grace and courtesy of manner, the 

 same fondness for amusement and love of dress, still re- 

 mained, and the slightest pretence was seized upon as an 

 occasion for a baik, or fandango. Don Pablo informed us 

 that on the following day there was to be a radero at his 

 father's ranche, to be followed by a baih in the evening, 

 and gave us all a cordial invitation to attend. 



A rodevo, explained Col. Forrester to me at dinner, is a 

 general meeting of raucheros, held once a year, for the 

 purpose of recovering and restoring lost stock. Notice is 

 sent weeks before, giving the time and place of meeting. 

 All owners of horses and cattle frequently find among their 

 ganadas (bands of cattle), munadas (bands of mares), and 

 eamadas (bands of horses), animals belonging to other ran- 

 cheros, or distant proprietors, whose hrmda, perhaps, are 

 unknown. On the appointed day, all who have received 

 notice assemble with their vaqueros and select the animals 

 which have their private mark branded on the hiudquarter. 

 Thisjierro is the only proof of ownership required, and 

 when a horse or cow is sold, the original owner brands 

 him again on the foreshoulder, which constitutes the centa, 

 or bill of sale. The purchaser then affixes his brand on 

 the hindquarter, and an animal which has frequently 

 changed owners becomes so scarred with numerous hiero- 

 glyphics that it. requires a persou well versed in this species 

 heraldry to tell who the present owner is, All animals un- 

 claimed at the end of the day are delivered to a pound 

 keeper, or judge of the plains, as he is termed, who posts 

 a description of them on the court house door of the 

 county town. Many mares will have foals rutiuing by 

 their sides, or cows will he followed by their calves, and 

 the wee things are branded on the spot for future recogni- 



