durrelllrobert - 1-11-2012 at 01:31 PM
It is from the memoires of Mrs Robert Louis Stevenson and was written in 1906:
While in Ensenada on the return trip Mrs. Stevenson heard of a ranch for sale there, and after looking at it decided to purchase it. The place, known
as El Sausal,[72] lies on the very edge of the great Pacific, and has a magnificent beach. The climate is as nearly perfect as a climate can be, and
Mrs. Stevenson often said that if the world ever learned of the magic healing in that country there would be a great rush to the peninsula, so long
despised as a hopeless desert.
There was only a little cottage of a very humble sort on the ranch and supplies were hard to get, but she loved it and was never better in health
than when she was at Sausal. At this time she returned to San Francisco, but the following winter she went back to take possession and spent some time
there. Writing to Mr. Charles Scribner, she says: "I am living in a sweet lost spot known as the Rancho El Sausal, some six miles from Ensenada in
Lower California. If I had no family I should stop here forever; except for the birds, and the sea, and the wind, it is so heavenly quiet, and I so
love peace." Running through the place was a little stream, the banks of which were thick with the scarlet "Christmas berry," so well known in the
woods of Upper California; multitudes of birds—canaries, linnets, larks, mocking-birds—all sang together outside the door in an amazing chorus; and on
the beach near by the sea beat its soft rhythmic measure.
They were very close to nature at Sausal, but though its situation was so isolated they had no fear, for the penalties for any sort of crime were
terrific. Burglary, or even house-breaking, were punished with death, and one could hardly frown at another without going to prison for it. Sometimes
they were surprised by the sudden appearance of a man, tired and dusty, dashing up on a foam-covered horse and asking for food. To such an unfortunate
they always gave meat and drink, and when the rurales[73] presently galloped up and demanded to know whether they had seen an escaped prisoner they
swallowed their conscientious scruples and answered "No!" Personally they met with nothing but the most punctilious courtesy from the Mexican
officials. When Mrs. Stevenson received a Christmas box from her daughter, the chivalric comandante at Ensenada, in order to make sure that she should
have it in time, sent it out to Sausal magnificently conducted by three mounted policemen.
bacquito - 1-11-2012 at 01:43 PM
Great read, sad that things have changed but Ensenada and Sausal remain a favorite for me.
Thanks for the history report.
DENNIS - 1-11-2012 at 01:47 PM
Todos Santos Island is Treasure Island.
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[Edited on 1-11-2012 by DENNIS]