MR. HARTWEQ'S JOURNAL OF A MISSION TO CALIFORNIA. 183 



crosses the mountain, Littaea geminiflora with a flower-stem from 

 12 to 18 feet long, but bent down by the weight of its numerous 

 seedpods, grows abundantly. In the evening I arrived at the 

 village of Ocotello. About noon the following day I reached 

 the hamlet of Auseta, situate at the foot of the volcano Tetitlan. 

 Having with difficulty procured a guide to ascend the mountain, 

 and provided the necessaries, including a calabash with water, 

 we set out and arrived before sunset on the north-western de- 

 clivity of the volcano, where we encamped for the night in a 

 beautiful pine forest. 



At seven o'clock on the 10th, leaving our horses in charge of 

 my servant, I began to ascend with the guide, who, being armed 

 with a machete (a kind of long knife), cleared a path among the 

 brushwood and long grass that encumbered our way. After a 

 continual steep ascent of four hours, through a forest composed 

 chiefly of that long-coned pine found near Tepic, a few oaks, 

 Mimosas, a Laurus, Garrya laurifolia, and a Fraxinus, we arrived 

 at the ledge of a black volcanic mass, destitute of all vegetation. 

 No crater is perceptible, but it seems that the torrents of partly 

 calcined lava that descend several miles into the plain below on 

 the north and south side of the mountain, burst forth laterally. 

 The volcano of Tetitlan is about 6000 feet above the level of 

 the sea ; centuries must have elapsed since it was in activity ; no 

 tradition exists among the population settled at its base when it 

 broke out. Having finished our survey, we returned to our en- 

 campment in two hours, and in the evening reached the farm of 

 La Estancia, and returned thence by way of San Pedro to Tepic 

 on the 12th. 



Having finished my letters for England by the 16th, I in- 

 tended to have set out the following day on an expedition to the 

 south ; but my plans were frustrated by a heavy fall of rain 

 during the night and following days. Although we are now 

 here in what is termed the dry season, yet occasional showers 

 occur during the months of December and January, which are 

 called by the natives Aguas nieves. They are not accompanied 

 by thunder, but continue for several days without intermission. 



The weather having at length cleared up by the 20th, I sallied 

 forth on horseback the following day with the servant I had 

 hired for the occasion, and crossed the plain of Tepic in a 

 southerly direction, leaving the Cerro de San Juan on the right. 

 After an easy ride of three hours, we entered a ravine through 

 which a stream that we had to pass several times winds its way. 

 The vegetation hei'e assumes a tropical character, and furnished 

 me a Cattleya, Stanhopea, Mormodes, Catasetum, and an Epiden- 

 drum, none of them however in flower. In the evening we 

 arrived at Compostella, said to be the oldest town in the state of 



