HINTS FOR FUTURE SETTLERS. 143 



of smoke which rose from this abundantly irri- 

 gated tract of land, showed that they had taken 

 refuge where the dragoons and their lassos 

 could not follow to convert them. 



It seems certain that the river Pescadores, as 

 well as those of St. Joachim and Jesus Maria, 

 which fall into it, take their rise in the icy 

 mountains, since they flow from the east, and 

 pass through the low lands, where they receive 

 a multitude of smaller streams. On the con- 

 trary, the river Sacramento flowing from the 

 north, from quite another region, has its source, 

 according to the Indians of the mission, in a 

 great lake. I myself conjecture, that the Sla- 

 vianka, which falls into the sea near Ross, is 

 an arm of it. 



The many rivers flowing through this fruit- 

 ful country will be of the greatest use to future 

 settlers. The low ground is exactly adapted to 

 the cultivation of rice ; and the higher, from the 

 extraordinary strength of the soil, would yield 

 the finest wheat-harvests. The vine might be 

 cultivated here to great advantage. All along 

 the banks of the river grapes grow wild, in as 

 mucli profusion as the rankest weeds: the 



