The Point Pleasant register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, W. Va.) 1909-1939, 1910-07-27
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Ia f1A1 WHICH Is rare IN the WOFlC
OF nature is always richly
priced by man. be 1t some
strange fantastic form, some
exotic growth, or some very
beautiful bloom. The stonecrop, the
sage.brush and the cactus have
claimed California for their own.
spreading out into the desert-landS
which lie to the eastward, and climb
ing up over the foothills OF the Sierras,
where they mark the boundary OF fer.
tility and clothe the nakedness OF
sand-dune and soil.serac with spuri.
Gus vegetation; thus by the artemisias,
salvias, audibertias, dudleyas. opun-
tias and mamillarias Is the wilderness
made to bloom. But It was not to
revel in the marvels on the mesas.
nor the charms Of the chapparral that
iourneyed one afternoon to Del Mar.
a tiny waySide station near San Di-
ego. perched on the top Of high cliff
above the wash OF the blue Pacific
waves. For days I had stepped my
soul in the delights OF the woods and
wastes. found companionship with
birds and things that creep, AID gath
cred here and there fragile fragrant
flowers. But now the rarest tree in
the whole wide world had called to
me from It's isolation: the report Of
its marvellous characteristics. its
rugged beauty, its picturesque habitat
had all been detailed. and so one
glorious day. when the California sky
was domed like lapis lazuli. Travelled
to Del Mar to see the famous Torrey
pines.
It is enthrall!ng to think how ma.
ture has set this handful Of conifers
on a Californian clitf. the only speci.
mems of their kind ever found on
earth. save for a few on the near by
island OF Santa Rosa It was not I'M
til the year 1850 that these trees were
discovered by Mr.. ]. L lie Conte, who
forthwith named them Pinus torrey-
ana, after Dr. John Torrey Of New
York. and since then many botanlsts
and nature-lovers have made a pill
grimage to this lonely shrine on the
summit OF the windswept bluffs.
among them Engelmann. Asa Gray.
Bayard Taylor and Charles F. Holder.
Leaving the station at Del Mar, fol.
lowed the railroad for mile or so.
emerging out OF a cutting on to a
strip Of track which Skirted deem
zavine chiseled and channeled like the
Grand Canon OF Colorado in miniature:
thence rounding rampant OF rock I
came upon a mass OF quarrled quarts
shimmering IN the sunlight such as is
used for the foundation OF roads in
this vicinity. The shining pyramid
was my signpost to leave the steel
rails and turn towards the sea,
A steep. sandy trail led down to join
the oiled road which skirted the shore
as far as the foot of the southerly
headland, and then wound away
among the hills behind the cliffs. From
this point / gained my first view OF
the Torrey pines, cluster OF tortured
trunks and twisted branches covered
with fascIcles OF immensely long
leaves outlined against the sky sew.
eral hundred feet above me. To scram.
BILE up the dry banks covered with
manzanita, masses OF pinkish buck.
wheat and all manner OF cacti and
stonecrops mingled with the inflated
pods Of the locoweed and the aromatic
plants OF the Yerba santa, or mountain
balm. was but the work Of few mo.
ments, and there on the top stood the
little groves OF rare trees. sheltered
for the most part IN small ravines,
some specimens. however, growing q;
the extreme edge CT the bluffs where
the hooks and craanies offered but
scant foothold or aourishment for
vegetation Some OF the trees are as
much as four feet IN circumference
and rise to height Of from i've to
fifty feet, those standing in exposed
places being more bent and fantss-