Page:California Inter Pocula.djvu/18



with gratitude,  then  the  heart  is  hard  indeed,   and the breast  but  Httle  better  than  a  flint.

You say  that  such  a  region  should  teem  with  ani- mal Hfe, and  so  it  does. You can  see  there  pehcans and sea-gulls  fishing  together  in  the  bays;  seals  and soa-lions barking  on  the  islands;  wild  fowl  thickly clustered on  lake  and  tule-marsh ;  fish  darting  amid  the waters; and  beasts  of  many  several  sorts  roaming  the forests. On the  tangled  hillside  is  heard  the  soft note of  the  curlew ;  you  may  listen  also  to  the  rust- ling of the  pheasant,  the  chirrup  of  the  blackbird, the whistling  of  the  partridge,  and  the  sweet  songs  of the  robin  and  the  lark. And they  all  rest  content ; they are  not  driven  by  intense  heat  or  cold  to long  migrations,  their  little  journeys  between  valley and mountain  being  scarcely  more  than  an  afternoon's ramble. Nor need  they  take  much  thought  for  the morrow; even  the  prudent  bee  often  leaves  neglected the honey-bearing  flower,  and  fails  to  lay  in  a  winter's store. To elk  and  antelope,  deer  and  bear,  hill  and plain are  one,  and  that  whether  scorched  by  summer's sun  or  freshened  by  winter's  rain. Bounteous nature plants the  fields,  brings  forth  the  tender  verdure, cures the  grass,  and  stores  the  acorns. Little of frozen  winter  is  here,  little  of  damp,  malarious  sum- mer ; cool  invio-oratino^  nig^hts  succeed  the  warmest days. Ice and  snow  banished  hence  sit  cold  and  stolid on distant  peaks,  whence  are  reflected  the  impotent rays of  the  sun.

Where then  is  winter  ? November drops  its  gentle rain upon  the  sun-burned  ground,  closing  the  weather- cracks, freshening  the  Lydian  air,  and  carpeting  the late gray  hills  and  vales  in  green;  and  this  is  winter. Spring comes  warm  and  wanton,  and  nature  is  clad  in holiday  garb. Summer, dry  and  elastic,  and  trem- bling in amethystine  light,  is  fragrant  with  the  odor of dried  grass,  cypress,  wild  bay,  and  juniper. The heat of  summer  is  seldom  enervating:,  and  the  thick sullen   fogs    that    creep  in    from    the   ocean   are  not