The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1916-01-13
feur showed us the famous Ostrich Tree,

ton of an ostrich when viewed from al
! most any angle AS we came near and
rounded the point we found ourselves in
the midst of the gnarled. stunted, anci-
ent cypress trees Various tales are
told as 10 the origin of these trees-some
claim that this grove on Monterey PEN
insula is the only one of its kind in the
world-and some say that similar trees
are to be found IN Japan, ana that the
winds and waves of bygone ages brought
the seeds to Monterey. Still others be-
| lieve them to be identical With the cedars
of Lebanon, but cannot explain how
| they were transplanted to the California
coast. Our chauffeur told US that two
Japanese scholars who were recently
driving with him decided. after care
full examination, that the Monterey trees
were an entirely different species from
| those of Japan. Be their origin what it
may. scientists find one point of agree
ment, their age. Thousands of years
old they are, as old, or perhaps even
older, than the sequoias, but greater
contrast than that of these cypress trees
and the tall, straight, beautiful redwoods
would be difficult to find. Their warped
and twisted trunks show their age, and
the marks of the centuries of struggle
with the winds of the Pacific. These
nearest the shore were so dwarfed that
could easily reach their topmost
branches and the largest of them were
no taller than an ordinary apple tree.
| Some of them have grown into strange,
fantastic shapes; the Witch Tree, for
/ instance, which undoubtedly merits its
name. Their foliage is not unlike that
/ of a cedar.
/ On our way back to Del Monte we
stopped for a few moments at Pebble
! Beach Lodge, a very attractive place,
/ built of pine logs, which, like nearly
eve,y thing else on the peninsula, is un-
/ der Del Monte management. Here we
bought post cards and views of the cy-
press trees. and admired the artistic
effect of the huge fireplaces and the pic
turesque rustic furnishings, one of the
most attractive features of which, to me
at least, was the use of abalone shells
as shades in the electric candelabra. A
colony of artists have attractive homes
IN this vicinity, which Jack London has
described SO well in The Valley of the
Moon"
We stopped for an instant in Monterey
to get a snapshot of the old San Carlos
Mission, now used as a church, and on
tad time for a walk on the beach and for
a visit to the fine bathhouse belonging to
the hotel, before luncheon time. The
sight of many pelicans on the beach re-
: minded US quite forcibly OF naughty
: ''nonsense rhyme" which comments
most freely on pelican's personal ap-
pearance!
A nondescript little electric railroad
connects Del Monte with Pacific Grove,
passing through Monterey, and after
lunch we took one of the sem-occasion-
al trolley cars and rode over to the town.
Our first objective point was Cabrillo
Point, where huge cross marks he
landing place of the first Spanish ex-
plorer in 1863. After roaming over the
rocks and climbing up to the cross we
walked back across the Preside to the
town of Monterey itself. Here we were
cd oT 4 al dol o
buildings, notably the first theater in
California where Jenny Lind once sang.
To enter this one paid a small fee into a
; fund for the restoration of the building,
which was certainly sadly needed. A
curio shop, with all sorts of impossible
objects for sale, occupied a part of the
building, and door at the side of the
shop led to the theater proper. This was
a tiny place, and the walls and ceiling of
crumbling adobe in a sorry state of de-
lapidation made it anything but an at
tractive one, and our stay inside was de-
cidedly short. If the celebrated Swed-
lsh Nightingale ever sang there her au.
dience must perforce have been a very
small one, and she doubtless found it
necessary to put the soft pedal on her
voice. We tried in vain to find some.
thing in the curio shop that appealed to
our fancy, but finally gave up the search
and fell back on the standby of the tour
ist, post cards. The man in charge was
extremely laxative and desired US to
take particular notice of the paving in
front of the shop, and across the street,
in fact, in many parts of the town. 1t
was made, he said, from the backbone
of whales, and the hexaRonal pieces fit
ted SO smoothly and snugly together that
they looked exactly like honeycomb.
Later we took the trolley for Del
Monte Fgain, and spent the rest of the
afternoon in roaming through the beau
tiful hotel grounds, which cover some
l25 acres. A cactus garden containing
many varieties of strange monstrosities,
and large rose garden filled with luxu.
RANT and fragrant blooms We're both in
teresting, though from rather different
standpoints. The avenues were lined