It was early in December, but we found _Helianthus_ ten to twelve feet high in bloom everywhere in the canons.

A _Salvia_ with a blue corolla, dotted with red glands, was very striking, a new variety, as it proved.

We also observed elders with flowers and leaves at the same time, and the _Bambusa_ formed a thick light-green undergrowth in beautiful contrast to the darker shades of the oaks, elders, and fan palms.

The latter were the last of their kind we saw on this side of the sierra.
We then went six miles further to the northeast.

At first the trail followed the little river, whose clear and rapid water is about a foot deep and on an average six feet wide.