I am a mining engineer." "But, my dear fellow, I thought that in your country--" "In MY country, yes.

But we are standing on a bit of old Spain.

This land was given to Dona Maria Saltonstall's ancestors by Charles V.
Look around you.

This veranda, this larger shell of the ancient casa, is the work of the old Salem whaling captain that she married, and is all that is American here.

But the heart of the house, as well as the life that circles around the old patio, is Spanish.