Quotation from: The Valley of the Moon

Written by: Jack London

A small, whitewashed farmhouse with broken windows showed through
the trees.

"Talk about your madronos--"

Billy pointed to the father of all madronos, six feet in diameter
at its base, sturdy and sound, which stood before the house.

They spoke in low tones as they passed around the house under
great oak trees and came to a stop before a small barn. They did
not wait to unharness. Tying the horses, they started to explore.
The pitch from the bench to the meadow was steep yet thickly
wooded with oaks and manzanita. As they crashed through the
underbrush they startled a score of quail into flight.