NEW YORK, THURSDAY, NOV. 5, 1874. 



•Sstatfed. 

 THE SWALLOW'S FAREWELL. 



"TTTMTH Hongs and flowers we follow tlie Spring, 

 VV Q.'ietm Spring, as she flies to hot dbitant limds; 



Over bind, over sou, our restless wing 

 Tarries not, save where her footstep stands. 



The- *imbennis flash on onj flitting breasts, 



To lighten our beantifnl Mistress' way; 

 And, when for a moment her fleet foot rests, 



Over her head we hover and play. 



Men cannot see onr beaatifnl Queen, 



But they think Spring follows wherevor wo fly; 



And they cry to as— Stay, that the woods may he green! 

 Arid'— Rest, that the Winter may not come night 



Bnt the beautiful Spring is flying, and we 



Must fly with her— fly with her over the land; 

 And follow her— follow her over the sea, 



Fur Iter guard, in a vast, invincible, baud. 



For see! the Autumn with fiery hand 



Is touching our haunts in the tall green trees; 

 And ruthlessly soon his flaming brand 



Shall bid our bright homes flare in the. breeze. 



And soon the armies of Winter shall march, 



The legioned frosts, o'er the lands below; 

 Whose fee - the fountains and rivers parch, 



Whose hands hurl arrowy tail and snow. 



Poor men I your beautiftll Spring shall die, 



Stricken anu slain by the Winter, if we 

 Did not shield her flying, and with her fly 



Where never a Winter's breath may be. 



But fear not, far tho' she fly from you, 



Long tho' the tyrant Winter Teign, 

 For his forces vainly her feet pursue, 



And safe shall she come to yon yet again. 



Far in the lands where you weep her gone, 



She shall gather armies aud mighty bauds, 

 She shall borrow the arrowy shaftB of the sun, 

 To drive the Winter out of your lands. 



The west wind and south shall her chariots be, 



Whon with force invincible on the track 

 Or the pallid Winter she march, and we 



And Summer and joy in her train coma hack. 



$mito 



JDr Forest and Stream. 



Monica. 



RANCHE LIFE IN SOUTHERN CALI- 

 FORNIA. 



TIT TO >t. TILESTDN. 



[Concluded.] 

 Shortly .after midnight our party, all but Don Pablo, took 

 their leave, but most of the dancers remained until day- 

 light, atul some even stayed to breakfast. Colonel For- 

 rester having taken charge of the spring wagon, which 

 had conveyed his wife and daughters, I was reduced to the 

 companionship of a sleepy vaquero for my ride. Perhaps 

 the best I could have had under the circumstances, as it in- 

 volved no conversation. The night, like all nights iu 

 Southern California, was very cool, almost cold, indeed, and 

 brilliant in starlight. The great mountains in their deep 

 shade looked weird and strange. The far off sea horizon, 

 indicated only by a line of light in the West, appeared il- 

 limitable in distance. The dark shadows of the oaks danc- 

 ing on the sward as their branches were swayed by the 

 night wind, seemed ghostlike. The mournful Vailing of 

 the coyote as he prowled around a sheep fold, tho occa- 

 sional hoot, hoot, of a night owl, and the rapid pounding 

 of the horses' feet on the hard road, -were the only sounds. 

 I followed closely behind the wagon, where my little 

 fomraditu , well wrapped in shawls, was riding beside her 

 father, aud occasionally looking back to see, as she said, if 

 the coyotes were carrying off her wmpadre. What a wel- 

 come change from the glare and dust of the hall room to 

 the luxuriously appointed parlor of Colonel Forrester's 

 house, where the faithful senimta, Juana, not content with 



keeping up the fire, had prepared a repast of steaming cups 

 of chocolate and sponge cakes, which was followed by the 

 charming little gossip about the company at the dance, and 

 a good deal of joking about the compadres and comadres, 

 of which Miss Nita received such a share that she vowed 

 she would stand it no longer, and rushed off to her room. 



"Now, Mr. Irving," said Colonel Forrester to meat 

 breakfast the next morning, "we do not start for the 

 mountains until after dinner, so if you would like to learn 

 something about sheep raising you had better join me on 

 my round to the stations. Here I was like the Alderman, 

 between two civic dinners, or the jackass between two 

 trusses of hay. I had expressed to the Colonel a desire to 

 learn something about this great source of his wealth, and 

 here was the opportunity. On the other hand, Miss Nita, 

 I knew, expected me to help her tie up some flowers, and 

 to make believe assist in the preparations for the camping 

 expedition; but duty prevailed over inclination. Mies Nita 

 pouted, and said that if I preferred a lot of sheep to her 

 society, I was welcome to them. "Ah, but Oomradita," 

 said I, "if I am ever to have a ranch of my own, you know 

 I must learn something about the business." 



As we rode along to the first band, which we found in the 

 canon, the Colonel imparted to me much valuablo infor- 

 mation. Said lie: "The greatest risk we run in our busi- 

 ness is in having two or three successive droughts, or dry 

 seasons, without rain enough in the winter to make a heavy 

 crop of grass. This alfillierm, which you 6ee growing 

 everywhere on the plain, is an indigenous species of clover, 

 which, in the spring, after the rains have ceased, makes 

 itself into hay by becoming detatched from its roots at the 

 ground. This furnishes the summer food for the sheep, 

 during which season, however, they must have water, hence, 

 the necessity, in securing a sheep range, to be certain of a 

 sufficient and unfailing supply of this article. The great 

 drawback to this country is the want of water. From 

 May until October, or sometimes as late as December, no 

 rain falls, and all fruit trees, vegetables and flowers must 

 be artificially irrigated to keep them alive and in bearing. 

 Many persons from the East come here during the winter, 

 when the rainfall has made everything green and bright, 

 and commence their operations as though this state of 

 things was to continue. The result is loss and disappoint- 

 ment, which might have been avoided had they looked at 

 the country when at its worst. A large portion of our im- 

 migrants have so far been a class of poor whites from the 

 Southern States, who are content with just a sufficiency of 

 corn and pork, and beyond procuring this, make no effort 

 to improve or embellish the 160 acres which Uncle Sam and 

 the pre-emption laws gives them free of cost. The want of 

 good society for his wife and children is another drawback 

 to the Eastern man. The better class of natives, than whom, 

 although ignorant aud uneducated, no people could be more 

 simple-minded and hospitable, are fast dying out, or their 

 descendents are amalgamating with the American popula- 

 tion. These lower counties have always been a Botany 

 Bay for the whole United States, that is, since the discovery 

 of gold, but this state of things is changing, and we only 

 want railroads to bring us a class of people who have both 

 enterprise and capital to develop the wonderful resources 

 of the country." 



"What breed of sheep do you find to suit tho climate 

 best?" I asked. 



"The Spanish Merino, by far; some cross them with the 

 Cotswold, aud others prefer the French Merino, but I pre- 

 fer the pure Spanish. We shear twice a year, but owing 

 to tho presence of a great deal of burr clover on the 

 ranges, the fleeces are nearly all "burry." Our wool is 

 looked upon as about tho poorest in the Eastern Market, 

 but it varies greatly in grade as the producers are varied in 

 their endeavors to improve the breed of sheep. But it is 

 in the wonderful increase that the real profit lies. We look 

 for a baud of ewes to double in number each year; the 

 number of twinB born compensating for losses of lambs by 

 accident or otherwise. A large proportion of our shepherds 

 are Ba$qMg,from that province at the foot of the Pyrennea. 



They have the advantage over the native Mexican or Indian 

 in being accustomed to the work, and in being fond of 

 neither drinking agundientc, gambling, or cockflghting. 

 Most of them become proprietors themselves and return to 

 their native country rich men." Observing a number of 

 goats with each band of sheep, I asked the Colonel the 

 reason of their being there. Said he: "There appears to 

 be something in the peculiar odor exuded by the goat, 

 which is conducive to health in the sheep. Whether this 

 is the true explanation I am not prepared to assert, but 

 certain it is that they do not thrive so well without their 

 companion. On many ranches the goat's milk is used ex- 

 clusively, both for drinking and making cheese." 



Beturning to the house, we found that the preparations 

 for the coming trip were concluded, and, after dinner, the 

 cavalcade started for the mountains. The Senora and 

 Miss Inez, with old Juana to assist in the cooking and dish- 

 washing, occupied the spring wagon, and behind them 

 came a rougher vehicle, drawn by mules, and filled with 

 the bedding, etc. The Colonel, Miss Anita, Don Pablo, 

 and myself were on horseback, and, not confined to any 

 regular order of .'marching, dashed here and there over the 

 plain; now chasing a rabbit from his form among the 

 tunas, or prickly pears, and now jumping our horses over 

 the gulleys which the rains had washed in the soft earth. 

 Entering the thick belt of oaks, the trail carried us for 

 awhile under their cool shade. Emerging from them on to a 

 sloping bonch at the foot of the mountain, we looked back 

 over the tree tops and obtained a magnificent view of val- 

 ley and ocean. Santa Monica and the buildings of the mis- 

 sion were far below, and looked like little card houses, the 

 bright tints of the vineyard conlrasting strongly with the 

 darker green of the orange and olive orchards. Off to 

 seaward the island of Santa Rosa, opposite Santa Barbara, 

 looked like a dim cloud resting upon the ocean. Leaving 

 the wagons to follow more leisurely, we spurred our horses 

 up the hill, and a short ride carried us to the mouth of the 

 canon, and in sight of the rough board shanty of our 

 friend, Grizzly Bill. One can hardly imagine a wilder 

 spot. From up the dark recesses of the canon a stream 

 came dashing down over its bed of rocks, forming hero 

 and there pools of clear water large enough for one to 

 swim, in. Bill's house was ornamented with two rows of 

 bee hives in front of it, from the entrances to which a con- 

 stant stream of busy little workers were entering, laden 

 with the spoil of many a wild flower on the plain below, 

 or departing for a fresh load. The proprietor had turned 

 a piece of land adjoining into a vegetable garden, and, 

 being entirely freo from frosts, could regale himself with 

 green peas or tomatoes at almost any season of the year, 

 but watermelons were his specialty. The ladies, arriving 

 soon after us, took possession of the house, while we were 

 shown to an oak tree, under which we were to find shelter 

 for the night. Bill always cooked out of doors in fine 

 weather, and we found an elegant fire ready for our culi- 

 nary attempts; not a "white man's fire," blazing and 

 smoking over the tree tops, but a bed of hot coals, at 

 which Juana, in a few moments, had prepared the after- 

 noon's tea. The Colonel took his flailing rod and went off 

 up the stream to catch some trout for supper. Bill was 

 making preparations to empty a hive in order to procure a 

 supply of honey. Don Pablo was assisting in unloading 

 the wagons, and getting the house ready for the ladies' 

 occupancy, and as I seemed to be like a landsman afloat, 

 "in every one's mess and nobody's watch," I took a gun 

 and went qff alone on the side of the hill, where every 

 little patch of chaparral seemed alive with quail, At sun- 

 set all had returned — the Colonel with a goodly string of 

 speckled beauties, and I with a dozen or more birds, which 

 Miss Nita assisted me to pluck. Bill's cooking apparatus 

 consisted of an immense gridiron, which was stretched 

 over the Are, and not only supported the indispensable 

 coffee pot, but left plenty of room for either broiling or 

 placing the frying pan. The latter, filled with freshly 

 caught trout, was sizzling away merrily. Great slices of 

 veni6on, cut from a haunch suspended in the tree over- 

 Bead, were broiling on the coals, and my contribution woi 



