Señora's own, on which opened the room the good Father Salviederra used always to occupy; beyond that is the garden, "always a mass of verdure," and in which is the chapel; in other directions are the olive, almond, and orange groves. It is all as Mrs. Jackson, in her novel of "Ramona," describes it. One recognizes at once the various places where this and that scene was enacted, and the characters of the story become living realities.
THE CAMULOS.
The Camulos ranch comprises fourteen hundred acres of farm and fruit land, and is about eighteen miles west of Newhall. The property was bought by the husband of the present owner, who is constantly reminding one of the Señora Moreno, and the house was built nearly thirty-one years ago. The best-known product of the Camulos is its olives; and next to these are its oranges, lemons, and wines. "The house was of adobe, low, with a wide veranda on the three sides of the inner court, and a still broader one across the entire front, which looked to the south. These verandas, especially those on the inner court, were supplementary rooms to the house. The greater part of the family life went on in them. … All the kitchen work, except the actual cooking, was done here, in front of the kitchen doors and windows. Babies slept, were washed, sat in the dirt, and played on the verandas. The women said their prayers, took their naps, and wove their lace there. The herdsmen and shepherds smoked there, lounged there, trained their dogs there; there the young made love and the old dozed." And it is the same now. The court is open on the east, and that side is formed by a grove of orange-trees. In the centre of the little square, set about with rose-bushes and a few trees, is a small fountain basin; and past this the maids and children pass and repass a score of times a day, on their way from the dining-room, on the south side of the court, to the kitchen on the north. There being no hotel in this part of the valley, the Camulos is often filled with belated strangers or visited by those desirous of seeing what an old-time Spanish ranch is like. The household is composed of nearly twenty people, related to the Señora. They are all acquainted with Ramona, and regret not being able to show one the original of that lovely character. "Many who come here," I am told, "do not believe that we are not he ones Mrs. Jackson described. They ask for Ramona and the Señora Moreno, and will not believe
