96 
SCENES IN THE PACIFIC. 
were invited by an English resident to a festa on the shores 
of the bay. And being in a mood to seize upon anything to 
divert thought from the unpleasant reminiscences of the past 
week, we gladly accepted the invitation, without knowing 
indeed what a Californian festa might be. Dr. Bale was one 
of the guests, and kindly conducted us to the place selected 
for the ceremonies. It was among the trees, a short distance 
southwest of the anchorage ; a wild, rude spot. The old 
trees, which had thrown their branches over the savage before 
a white man had touched the shores, were rotting on the 
ground, and formed the fuel of our fire ! The ancient rocks 
stood around, covered with the moss of ages! The winds 
sang in the trees! The ringing cadences of the towering 
pine, the deep bass of the strong spreading oak, the mellow 
alto of the flowering shrubs, the low, soft voice of the 
grasses, nature’s great iEolian lyre, breathed sweet music! 
The old wilderness was there, unshorn, and holy, respond¬ 
ing to the songs of birds in the morn of the opening year. 
When we arrrived, half a dozen brunettes were spread¬ 
ing cloths upon the grass, and displaying upon them boiled 
ham, dried beef, tongue, bread, pies, cigars, and various 
kinds of wines, from the vineyards of the country ; so that 
a festa proved to be an invitation for us to eat and drink 
among a group of joyous children and smiling lasses. Yes, 
smiling, hearty Californian lasses. Who is not glad to see 
me repeat words that speak of the smiles of women ? I do 
not mean those heart-rending efforts at grinning, which one 
so often meets in rgechanical society ■; but those pulsations 
of genuine joy and truth, which come up impulsively from 
woman’s real nature, shedding on the dwelling-places of the 
race the sweetest elements of the social state. It is that 
sunshine of our moral being which beams on our cradles, 
on the paths of our childhood, on the stormy skies of mis¬ 
fortune in the years of manhood, which warms the chilled 
heart of age into renewed life, and shines on till sight and 
sense are lost in the dark gateway to the after state! 
