MB. HAUTWEGS JOURNAL OF A MISSION TO CALIFOENIA. 225 



more laid up with fever and ague, from which I did not recover 

 until the beginning of September. 



On September the 6th I went again over to Santa Cruz in 

 quest of pine-cones, which were now ripening. The sorts I pro- 

 cured were Abies Douglasii, Pinus californica, and P. Benthami- 

 ana. The cones of the latter were unusually scarce this season, 

 and seem to have suffered from late spring frosts, A few cones 

 were all I could procure of this sort. They were smaller than 

 those of the preceding year, and contained but few good seeds. 



On September the 20tli I again left Monterey for the southern 

 parts, which, on account of the disturbed state of last year, I 

 could not visit before. As guide I engaged the services of a 

 man who had accompanied me on my last excursion to Santa 

 Cruz, and who, from his profession as a hunter, was well ac- 

 quainted with the intricate mountain paths of the district I in- 

 tended to visit. On the day of our starting we reached the mis- 

 sion of La Solidad, an ill-constructed, half-ruined building, 

 situate in the Salinas valley, and encamped towards evening on 

 the banks of the Salinas river, within a short distance of the 

 mission. 



By sunrise the following morning we were again on horseback, 

 and leaving the main road on the right, we entered a mountain 

 defile leading to the mission of San Antonio. Here I observed 

 a shrubby Arctostaphylos, with large brown seeds ; a half- 

 climbing Caprifolium (C. No. 133), profusely covered with 

 scarlet berries ; an evergreen shrubby Oak (Q. No. 8) ; and a sub- 

 deciduous Oak (Q. No. 7), the latter forming a tree 30 feet high. 



From San Antonio a range of mountains extends along the 

 coast, attaining a great elevation, which, although apparently 

 barren as seen from the mission, I was assured on the western 

 flank towards the sea is covered by large Pines. The lower 

 region of this range, at the foot of which the mission is built, is 

 thinly covered by the evergreen Californian Oak, a Ceanothus, 

 Cercocarpus, a small-leaved shrubby Fraxinus, and Pinus Sa- 

 biniana — the latter at the time with ripe cones. An evergreen 

 shrubby Prunus, called Islay, with a holly-like leaf, bearing a 

 red fruit resembling the cherry-plum, grows also abundantly 

 here. The thin pulp which surrounds the proportionate large 

 seed is sweet and pleasant to eat. The kernel, after being roasted 

 and made into gruel, is a favourite dish amongst the Indians. 

 Having ascended the first ridge, we passed through thickets of 

 Arctostaphylos tomentosa and Ceanothus thyrsiflorus, and entered 

 a forest of Pinus Lambertiana. The cones of this noble Pine are 

 always hanging from the points of the branches, were by this 

 time already open, and the seeds had fallen out. From cones 

 that had been blown down, I picked out a few seeds. 



