Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1890-04-10
For The Ellsworth American.
A Summer Outing in February.


Never pray for rain when the wind i>
northeast. Mr.. Maine. You may be sure
/ 'twould be well nigh useless In this coun-
/ try"
\ This skeptcal observation came from an
old Californian. He was not forty miner.
but had he left his native Jersey sands
year or two sooner. he would have been.
had lived In New Jersey myself. but did
not attribute to this fact the speedy devel
opment OF intimacy between us. 1t was
of humor and store of yarns. Moreover.
forty years residence on the Pacific slope.
with its varied experiences. had not OBJ
| scurcd the fact that he was Yankee. In
specimen OF Gods best handiwork He
believed in good Old Yankee words None
Of your French lingo for him, For in
stance" said he. "a b-r-i-s should be pro-
nounced deebrlss-,hat's American. The
French apes can stick TO daybres II they
wanter." He had mined. ranched. surveyed,
edited a paper and written 4 scientific
work; hence his ability 10 entertain.
Tn. above remark about rain was made
just we were starting out for Sabbath
day stroll. Though Il was about the first
Of February. the fields and hillsides were
decked with profusion of fragrant flow
ers. Larks and robins were singing, bees
humming about, grain was pushing up
from the rich soil, and, all In all. it required
quite an effort 10 realize that 1t was not
June in the Pine Tree State The absence
OF pines, however, and the presence OF
orange, lemon and fg trees, .endsd to cor
rect the IMPRESSION.
Twenty or thirty miles eastward rose the
heavy timhered Sierras, on whose angular,
quilted fanks deep banks Of snow shone in
the sun Those snow banks are worth
more TO California than her mines of gold,
for by their gradual melting during the
summer the rivers and streams are sup
piled, which enables, through lnnumerabIe
irrigating bitches the thirsty farms of the
valley and plain To utilize the magnificent
resources of soil and sunshine.
MIR. Barren" said |. nodding over the
fence BY the roadside at green and flowery
/ feld. lovers of flowers in the East would
get excited over those flowers"
Yes. but its too early for flowers just
now. A month or two later and the hills
will be covered with them"
Though never a crank on the subject of
( flowers, the sight of SO many beautiful var
! ieties somewhat kindled my appreciation.
/ Noticing my admiration Of a delicate
! orsnge-colored blossom. Mr.. Barron OBJ
served That's called the California pop
/ py." The reader will not hazard his jaw
1 on the botanical name; II Is eschschoitztu.) J
/ A certain yellow flower looked. at dis
! lance, like the buttercup, but II wasn't.
| Mr.. Barron pointed out a little plant with
a very small, red blossom. calling it alil-
! eria, or fioree. Cattle are very fond of
| this. and during the summer will lick the
ground for the least dried PARTICLES Of it.
We climbed over the fence into field of
tinelookng grass and clover. OF the lat
ter there were numerous varieties but none
seemed Identical with those common to
New England. My companion said they
were all ANNALS. As We trudged through
the grass, my ears were cooked tor the
familiar mandate of my boyhood-"Out
of that grass"-but they We're disappointed.
A pasture in California often equals a
bayfield, in Maine. We were in pasture.
On the side of a hill IN this field Mr.. Bar
ron whipped out his pocket-knife, dropped
on to his knees and began to dig about the
roots of blue fowered plant. Polling
out a bulb the size of filbert and rubbing
it white in his fingers he passed it to me.
That's a ground-nut. Thirty years age
the Indians had a village near by and sub
sisted to great extent on ground nuts
which are very nutritious and palatable
At length, after having titled the ground
for years mot for ground-nuts, for they
grow wild) the Indians had to succumb
during Lincoln's administration, to the
Vaccinations of land schemers, and were
removed from their fertile soil to a res
ervation of worthless land in the foothills.
Just and magnanimous republic of ours.
found the ground-nut quite agreeable te
the taste.
In ledge, cropping out Of another hill
were to be seen several round holes about
five inches in diameter and three to five il
depth. Now, suppose you wonder
what was the cause of those" said tht
Californian. "Well, they are the grist
) Seating themselves on these ledges they
have, for centuries, pounded their corr
and acorns into coarse -four. You vii
perceive that not only have deep hole.
been worn by their pestles into the ledge
but also that the ledge about the holes i.
worn smooth in places. Those places show
where they sat during the operation. Al
Indian once asked me who made the holes
Instead Of replying, l asked him the SAM
question. God he replied. laughed
which caused him to smile. Then he said
My mahala, when a little girl, used Il
help old women pound acorns here Yes,
l responded. and your mahala's mother
| when little girl, used to do the same
Now, those priests know better than t,
teach them such rot. could tell yo1
many interesting stories Of the Indians o
this section, and some time ago l wrote
series of papers on this subject for tn
Visalia Deity"
hope to see Mr.. Barron's Delta articles
> for my interest in these Indians has beel
considerably awakened.
{ FILIUs D. MAINE.
1 poPfnrvillo Gal March 95 1890