A BOTANICAL ACCOUNT OF CALIFORNIA. 



361 



Ceanothus thyrsiflorus, with which it grows, 

 is of that degree of hardiness. 



In February, a species of Dodecatheon 

 appeared everywhere common, as also Fra- 

 garia "esca, a Cardamine, a Viola, a Saxi- 

 fraga, ami two Trilliums; of shrubs, two 

 species of Ceanothus, the one producing 

 numerous bundles of blue flowers from the 

 axils of its small evergreen leaves; the 

 other, C. thyrsiflorus, often attaining the 

 size of a small tree, sending forth its nu- 

 merous heads of azure flowers from last 

 year's wood. In the sandy plains towards 

 the River Salinas, the large, golden flow- 

 ered Viola chrysantha, Nemophila insignis, 

 Eschscholtzia crocea, and E. californica, 

 were common. 



My sojourn in California being restricted 

 according to my instructions to one year, 

 whilst a similar period is to be devoted to 

 visiting the northern provinces of Mexico, 

 or in case I find this country a favorable 

 field for my exertions, permission having 

 been granted, until I received orders to the 

 contrary, that I may stay the Avhole term of 

 two years in California: I resolved, in the 

 absence of new instructions from the Coun- 

 cil of the Society, not to proceed to northern 

 Mexico, where, during the war with the 

 United States, my peaceful occupation 

 might be disturbed, and my personal safety 

 endangered, but to remain another season 

 in California; more especially as, from my 

 late arrival in this country, and subsequent 

 circumstances, I could not extend my ex- 

 cursions as I intended to have done. The 

 next step to be considered is, whither can I 

 proceed to follow my occupation with satis- 

 faction to my employers and myself? The 

 country has been taken possession of last 

 year by an American force, much against 

 the good will of the Californians. Now, 

 although the country is apparently quiet, it 

 is difficult to foretell how long it may last, 

 and if these disturbances should break out 

 again during my busy season, it might se- 

 son, it might seriously affect my plans. I 

 therefore came to the conclusion of visiting 

 the Sacramento Valley, where the settlers 

 are all foreigners, and where I need not be 

 under any apprehensions of disturbances in 

 the lower country. 



Accordingly I embarked on the Sth of 

 March on board the American bark Tasso, 



Vol. iv. 26 



and arrived at Yerba Buena after a passage 

 of five days. A few days' detention ena- 

 bled me to examine the neighborhood, and 

 added to my collection, among other less 

 interesting plants, a white Myosotis, a Li- 

 liaceous plant, an (Enothera, a scarlet Aqui- 

 legia, an Iris, and Ribes echinatum, the lat- 

 ter common on the sandhills that surround 

 the town. 



On March the 23d I embarked in a small 

 launch with Mr. Cordua, who was proceed- 

 ing to his farm in the Sacramento Valley, 

 and who kindly invited me to make his 

 house my head-quarters ; an invitation 

 which I gladly accepted, as from his long 

 residence in the country, and the situation 

 of his farm, in the centre of the valley, I 

 anticipated many happy results. Late in 

 the afternoon of the following day we ar- 

 rived at the Corte de Madera, which, as 

 the name implies, is a woodcutting estab- 

 lishment, where Mr. Cordua had some bu- 

 siness to transact. Half an hour's ramble 

 in a fine grove of redwood trees furnished 

 me with a brown, small flowering Marta- 

 gon, a Boragineous plant, and an Equise- 

 tum. The same night we left again, and 

 passing the following morning through the 

 straits of Carquinez into Suisun bay, we 

 entered the River Sacramento in the after- 

 noon. The aspect of the country is flat, 

 presenting a boundless field of rushes as 

 far as the eye can reach, bordered on both 

 sides by a distant ridge of mountains, which, 

 from the severity of last winter, presented a 

 line of snow. The lowlands of the Sacra- 

 mento are subject to inundations during the 

 spring months, and are destitute of trees, 

 with the exception of the banks, which, 

 from the accumulation of soil during the 

 inundations, are higher than the rushlands; 

 a belt of trees and shrubs, varying from 

 thirty to two hundred yards in depth, ex- 

 tends along the banks, and is chiefly com- 

 posed of Oaks, Platanus, Willows, Poplars, 

 Ash, Negundo californicum, Pavia califor- 

 nica, Cornus, a dwarf Birch, and a Grape- 

 vine. After a tedious process of warping 

 up the Launch against a strong current, we 

 arrived at the Landing place of Fort Sacra- 

 mento, on the 31st of March. 



The vegetation in the Upper Sacramento 

 valley is much earlier than about the bay 

 of San Francisco ; there the trees were still 



