76 DESCRIPTION OF CALIFORNIA. 



to my former visit to this port, in the ship 

 Rurik. Don Sanchez was at that time a 

 brave subaltern ; but had since, under repub- 

 lican colours, risen in tlie service. He promised 

 to lend us every assistance in his power, and 

 proved his friendly intentions by an immediate 

 present of fruits, vegetables, and fresh meats. 



As our accounts of California are few and 

 defective, a rapid glance at the history and 

 constitution of this unknown but beautiful 

 country, richly endowed by Nature with all 

 that an industrious population could require 

 to furnish the comforts and enjoyments of life, 

 but hitherto sadly neglected under Spanish mis- 

 government, will probably not be unwelcome to 

 the readers who have accompanied me thus far: 

 I will therefore, on its behalf, defer, for a short 

 space, the account of our residence here. 



The narrow peninsula on the north-west 

 coast of America, beginning at St. Diego's 

 Point, under thirty-two degrees of latitude, 

 and ending with the promontory of St. Lucas, 

 under twenty-two degrees, was first exclusively 

 called California ; but the Spaniards extended 

 this appellation to their more recent discoveries 



