CHAPTER XVI SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

 The descent lay through groves¹ of pine and cedar², beds of beautiful flowers, grassy³ glades⁵, mountain brooks⁶, tiny lakes, springs of ice cold water, and acres and acres of azaleas.

 

In the center of a green glade⁴ lay a big brown bowlder surrounded by flowers. Just under the side of this bowlder was a spring of ice cold water.

 

Just as the sun was sliding down the western horizon beyond the snow-capped peaks we arrived again in Wawona valley, where the evening was spent in telling stories and relating adventures.

 

“When in London recently,” said our lawyer friend, “Chauncey Depew told this story:

 

“At a hotel where he was dining the waitress said to a young man, ‘We have blackberry pie, peach pie, plum pie, strawberry pie and custard pie.’

 

 

“‘Bring me some plum pie and some peach pie, yes, and I’ll take some blackberry pie.’ As the waitress turned to fill the order the young man called her back, ‘You may bring me some strawberry pie, too.’

 

“‘What’s the matter with the custard pie?’ inquired she.

 

“The next morning Mr. Depew met a young Englishman on the street, who complimented him on his speech, saying that he really liked it very, very much, you know, but he would like to ask him one question, ‘What was the matter with the custard pie?’”

 

When the laugh had subsided⁷ a young lady in a pink shirt waist leaned forward in her chair, and looking earnestly at the lawyer, softly inquired, “Well, what was?”

 

In the laugh which followed, the Englishman’s stupidity was lost sight of in astonishment⁹ at that of the American girl.

 

“Excuse me,” said a well dressed lady to me one morning at the hotel in Wawona, “I am a little hazy¹⁰ on my geography, but what I want to know is this—if I go to Denver will I be in Colorado?”

 

After a week’s fishing, dreaming and resting in this beautiful valley, we returned to the coast.

 

 

All up and down the Pacific coast as well as the islands of the sea are wonderful floating gardens. These gardens are composed of kelp, which attached to the bottom and to the rocks, grows from fifty to one hundred feet long, throwing out broad leaves and balloon-like air bulbs which support them. A perfect forest of broad green leaves rise upward, presenting a sharp contrast to the blue water in which they grow. Gracefully¹¹ turning with every movement of the water they are among the most strikingly beautiful objects of salt sea. When near the shore these huge plants assume an upright position and become floating gardens in very truth, through which vessels¹² plow¹³ with much difficulty.

 

The entrance to the bay at Santa Barbara is a perfect maze¹⁴ of floating sea-weed. The leaves are covered with patches of color, representing parasitic¹⁵ animals, or plants, greens, reds, purples and yellows, a perfect maze of color.

 

Delicate sea anemones¹⁶ looking exactly like their namesakes on land. The slightest noise causes them to close up, withdrawing their tentacles¹⁷, and presently blooming out again.

 

Here are tiny plant-like animals growing in[213] shrub-like forms. Wonderful jellyfish, too, fill the ocean at night with a phosphorescent light.

 

In place of birds and insects in a sea garden we find shell animals, crabs¹⁸ and fishes clinging to the leaves. Along comes a big octopus¹⁹ throwing out his eight sucker-lined arms in search of food. Disturbed, he throws out an inky fluid, and while you are searching the black hole for him, he slips away. Yonder comes a nautilus holding his shell high over his head, crawling lazily along. Black-hued echini, bristling²⁰ with pins and needles which, waving to and fro, ward⁸ off their enemies. Fish of all sorts and sizes inhabit the sea garden. The beautiful gold and silver fishes gliding²¹ in and out remind one of the birds flitting from tree to tree. In comes a big fish, the king of the bass²², and the “small fry” scatter²³ right and left. At night these strange gardens are aglow²⁴ with phosphorescent lights.

 

Los Angeles has been having a succession of earthquakes.

 

The houses in San Francisco as well as other coast towns are built to withstand earthquake shocks. On this account very few brick are used. An earthquake hotel is advertised. In[214] this city, too, one may eat Pasteurized ice-cream without fear of the deadly ptomain.

 

An orange, as every one knows, is a difficult fruit to eat gracefully, but I’ve learned how to do it in this land of the citron. A gentleman assured me that the only proper place to eat an orange was in the bathtub.

 

Up and down the length of this coast I’ve not been able to get a decent lemonade. Very few places serve that drink at all. Drinks there are plenty, but no lemonade. Now I know what those warnings mean which hang up in every stateroom on the steamers: “Passengers strictly²⁵ prohibited from getting into bed with their boots on.”

 

California is rich in stories of her early days. Just east of San Francisco lies a narrow valley bordering on the bay of San Pablo. The first white man to enter this valley was one Miguel and his wife, who named it El Hambre (Hunger) valley.

 

Miguel built an adobe²⁶ hut and planted a garden. Later he started to San Francisco, for supplies. Madam Miguel remained at home to tend the garden. Miguel would return in three weeks and all would be well.

 

Time passed slowly to the lonely woman.[215] When the three weeks had passed Emilia packed a burro and started out on the trail which her husband had taken. At night she tethered the burro and rolled in her blanket slept by the roadside. Dawn saw her on the trail. The third day her burro neighed and was answered by a donkey which proved to be that of Miguel. Hurrying on she found her husband lying on the roadside, dead. She remained there until the sun set, then covered him with a blanket and returned home.

 

Later some traders wandering through the valley found her skeleton in the garden. The adobe still stands in the now new town of Martinez.

 

Dick Brown, miner of Misery²⁷ Hill, was a sort of recluse²⁸, who never made any friends among the miners of the Eldorado of the west.

 

One day while out prospecting²⁹, a landslide³⁰ carried him down the valley and buried him beneath it. His body was recovered and buried, but his ghost walked nightly at the foot of the old shaft³¹.

 

A lazy, seemingly good-for-nothing sort of a fellow, Wilson by name, began work in Brown’s mine. It was a good mine and paid Wilson well until some one else began working[216] it. Every morning there was evidence that some one had been at work during the night.

 

One night Wilson loaded his rifle and waited for his nightly intruder. Hearing a noise he started to follow it up.

 

What was that on yonder tree, which glowed with a phosphorescent light? Wilson crept nearer. There, tacked³² on a big tree, was a notice, “D. B. his mine. Hands off.”

 

A moment later the notice was gone. As he passed on he heard the water flowing through the sluice³³ and the sound of a pick in the gravel³⁴. There stood Dick Brown. Wilson raised his rifle and fired. A yell, and the ghost of Dick Brown came flying after him as he ran down the hill.

 

The next morning a pick and shovel³⁵ were found by the roadside bearing the initials “D. B.” cut on the handle of each. Wilson deserted³⁶ the claim, but the sluice on Misery Hill ran on for many years.

 

 

 

1 groves   

树丛，小树林( grove的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The early sun shone serenely on embrowned groves and still green fields. 朝阳宁静地照耀着已经发黄的树丛和还是一片绿色的田地。
• The trees grew more and more in groves and dotted with old yews. 那里的树木越来越多地长成了一簇簇的小丛林，还点缀着几棵老紫杉树。

2 cedar   

n.雪松，香柏(木)

参考例句：

• The cedar was about five feet high and very shapely.那棵雪松约有五尺高,风姿优美。
• She struck the snow from the branches of an old cedar with gray lichen.她把长有灰色地衣的老雪松树枝上的雪打了下来。

3 grassy   

adj.盖满草的；长满草的

参考例句：

• They sat and had their lunch on a grassy hillside.他们坐在长满草的山坡上吃午饭。
• Cattle move freely across the grassy plain.牛群自由自在地走过草原。

4 glade   

n.林间空地，一片表面有草的沼泽低地

参考例句：

• In the midst of a glade were several huts.林中的空地中间有几间小木屋。
• The family had their lunch in the glade.全家在林中的空地上吃了午饭。

5 glades   

n.林中空地( glade的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Maggie and Philip had been meeting secretly in the glades near the mill. 玛吉和菲利曾经常在磨坊附近的林中空地幽会。 来自辞典例句
• Still the outlaw band throve in Sherwood, and hunted the deer in its glades. 当他在沉思中变老了，世界还是照样走它的路，亡命之徒仍然在修武德日渐壮大，在空地里猎鹿。 来自互联网

6 brooks   

n.小溪( brook的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Brooks gave the business when Haas caught him with his watch. 哈斯抓到偷他的手表的布鲁克斯时，狠狠地揍了他一顿。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Ade and Brooks exchanged blows yesterday and they were severely punished today. 艾德和布鲁克斯昨天打起来了，今天他们受到严厉的惩罚。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 subsided   

v.（土地）下陷（因在地下采矿）( subside的过去式和过去分词 )；减弱；下降至较低或正常水平；一下子坐在椅子等上

参考例句：

• After the heavy rains part of the road subsided. 大雨过后，部分公路塌陷了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• By evening the storm had subsided and all was quiet again. 傍晚， 暴风雨已经过去，四周开始沉寂下来。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 ward   

n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开

参考例句：

• The hospital has a medical ward and a surgical ward.这家医院有内科病房和外科病房。
• During the evening picnic,I'll carry a torch to ward off the bugs.傍晚野餐时，我要点根火把，抵挡蚊虫。

9 astonishment   

n.惊奇，惊异

参考例句：

• They heard him give a loud shout of astonishment.他们听见他惊奇地大叫一声。
• I was filled with astonishment at her strange action.我对她的奇怪举动不胜惊异。

10 hazy   

adj.有薄雾的，朦胧的；不肯定的，模糊的

参考例句：

• We couldn't see far because it was so hazy.雾气蒙蒙妨碍了我们的视线。
• I have a hazy memory of those early years.对那些早先的岁月我有着朦胧的记忆。

11 gracefully   

ad.大大方方地；优美地

参考例句：

• She sank gracefully down onto a cushion at his feet. 她优雅地坐到他脚旁的垫子上。
• The new coats blouse gracefully above the hip line. 新外套在臀围线上优美地打着褶皱。

12 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

13 plow   

n.犁，耕地，犁过的地；v.犁，费力地前进[英]plough

参考例句：

• At this time of the year farmers plow their fields.每年这个时候农民们都在耕地。
• We will plow the field soon after the last frost.最后一场霜过后，我们将马上耕田。

14 maze   

n.迷宫，八阵图，混乱，迷惑

参考例句：

• He found his way through the complex maze of corridors.他穿过了迷宮一样的走廊。
• She was lost in the maze for several hours.一连几小时，她的头脑处于一片糊涂状态。

15 parasitic   

adj.寄生的

参考例句：

• Will global warming mean the spread of tropical parasitic diseases?全球变暖是否意味着热带寄生虫病会蔓延呢？
• By definition,this way of life is parasitic.从其含义来说，这是种寄生虫的生活方式。

16 anemones   

n.银莲花( anemone的名词复数 )；海葵

参考例句：

• With its powerful tentacles, it tries to prise the anemones off. 它想用强壮的触角截获海葵。 来自互联网
• Density, scale, thickness are still influencing the anemones shape. 密度、大小、厚度是受最原始的那股海葵的影响。 来自互联网

17 tentacles   

n.触手( tentacle的名词复数 )；触角；触须；触毛

参考例句：

• Tentacles of fear closed around her body. 恐惧的阴影笼罩着她。
• Many molluscs have tentacles. 很多软体动物有触角。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 crabs   

n.蟹( crab的名词复数 )；阴虱寄生病；蟹肉v.捕蟹( crab的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• As we walked along the seashore we saw lots of tiny crabs. 我们在海岸上散步时看到很多小蟹。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The fish and crabs scavenge for decaying tissue. 鱼和蟹搜寻腐烂的组织为食。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 octopus   

n.章鱼

参考例句：

• He experienced nausea after eating octopus.吃了章鱼后他感到恶心。
• One octopus has eight tentacles.一条章鱼有八根触角。

20 bristling   

a.竖立的

参考例句：

• "Don't you question Miz Wilkes' word,'said Archie, his beard bristling. "威尔克斯太太的话，你就不必怀疑了。 "阿尔奇说。他的胡子也翘了起来。
• You were bristling just now. 你刚才在发毛。

21 gliding   

v. 滑翔 adj. 滑动的

参考例句：

• Swans went gliding past. 天鹅滑行而过。
• The weather forecast has put a question mark against the chance of doing any gliding tomorrow. 天气预报对明天是否能举行滑翔表示怀疑。

22 bass   

n.男低音(歌手)；低音乐器；低音大提琴

参考例句：

• He answered my question in a surprisingly deep bass.他用一种低得出奇的声音回答我的问题。
• The bass was to give a concert in the park.那位男低音歌唱家将在公园中举行音乐会。

23 scatter   

vt.撒，驱散，散开；散布/播；vi.分散，消散

参考例句：

• You pile everything up and scatter things around.你把东西乱堆乱放。
• Small villages scatter at the foot of the mountain.村庄零零落落地散布在山脚下。

24 aglow   

adj.发亮的；发红的；adv.发亮地

参考例句：

• The garden is aglow with many flowers.园中百花盛开。
• The sky was aglow with the setting sun.天空因夕阳映照而发红光。

25 strictly   

adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地

参考例句：

• His doctor is dieting him strictly.他的医生严格规定他的饮食。
• The guests were seated strictly in order of precedence.客人严格按照地位高低就座。

26 adobe   

n.泥砖，土坯，美国Adobe公司

参考例句：

• They live in an adobe house.他们住在一间土坯屋里。
• Adobe bricks must drived dried completely before are used.土坯砖块使用前一定要完全干燥。

27 misery   

n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦

参考例句：

• Business depression usually causes misery among the working class.商业不景气常使工薪阶层受苦。
• He has rescued me from the mire of misery.他把我从苦海里救了出来。

28 recluse   

n.隐居者

参考例句：

• The old recluse secluded himself from the outside world.这位老隐士与外面的世界隔绝了。
• His widow became a virtual recluse for the remainder of her life.他的寡妻孤寂地度过了余生。

29 prospecting   

n.探矿

参考例句：

• The prospecting team ploughed their way through the snow. 探险队排雪前进。
• The prospecting team has traversed the length and breadth of the land. 勘探队踏遍了祖国的山山水水。

30 landslide   

n.(竞选中)压倒多数的选票；一面倒的胜利

参考例句：

• Our candidate is predicated to win by a landslide.我们的候选人被预言将以绝对优势取胜。
• An electoral landslide put the Labour Party into power in 1945.1945年工党以压倒多数的胜利当选执政。

31 shaft   

n.(工具的)柄，杆状物

参考例句：

• He was wounded by a shaft.他被箭击中受伤。
• This is the shaft of a steam engine.这是一个蒸汽机主轴。

32 tacked   

用平头钉钉( tack的过去式和过去分词 )； 附加，增补； 帆船抢风行驶，用粗线脚缝

参考例句：

• He tacked the sheets of paper on as carefully as possible. 他尽量小心地把纸张钉上去。
• The seamstress tacked the two pieces of cloth. 女裁缝把那两块布粗缝了起来。

33 sluice   

n.水闸

参考例句：

• We opened the sluice and the water poured in.我们打开闸门，水就涌了进来。
• They regulate the flow of water by the sluice gate.他们用水闸门控制水的流量。

34 gravel   

n.砂跞；砂砾层；结石

参考例句：

• We bought six bags of gravel for the garden path.我们购买了六袋碎石用来铺花园的小路。
• More gravel is needed to fill the hollow in the drive.需要更多的砾石来填平车道上的坑洼。

35 shovel   

n.铁锨，铲子，一铲之量；v.铲，铲出

参考例句：

• He was working with a pick and shovel.他在用镐和铲干活。
• He seized a shovel and set to.他拿起一把铲就干上了。

36 deserted   

adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的

参考例句：

• The deserted village was filled with a deathly silence.这个荒废的村庄死一般的寂静。
• The enemy chieftain was opposed and deserted by his followers.敌人头目众叛亲离。