2o6 Audubon's Western Journal 



return of men with large fortunes, ask if specula- 

 tions in land or trade, bar-keeping or Monte 

 dealing has not swollen the first few hundreds, dug 

 and gained with hard labor, privation, or, in rare 

 cases, wonderful luck. Even then for one man who 

 has a thousand, there are hundreds who will not 

 average a tenth of it after expenses are paid. 



March 6th. Again on the road from Stockton 

 east, towards the mines. I have been to San Fran- 

 cisco and am now on my way to join Layton to 

 begin my tour of the mining and agricultural 

 districts of this now most fairy-like country, every- 

 thing so smiling and beautiful, flowers of the 

 smaller varieties by thousands; and the snow 

 melting sends its waters down all the little rills and 

 rivulets clear and pure, giving freshness and luxuri- 

 ance to the whole country; could it retain so much 

 beauty through the summer, I should pronounce 

 it, at once, the most enchanting land I had ever 

 seen, and yet, as I think of the beautiful shrubs of 

 the east, and where they do exist, of the magnolias, 

 wild roses, and flowering vines and trees we have, 

 I think the countries balanced, for here two species 

 of oak, three pines, the redwood and the laurel, 

 will almost enumerate the whole of the common 

 varieties of trees. 



Farther south, back of San Diego, in the valley 

 of Santa Maria, I saw the finest sycamores I have 

 ever come across ; they grow where they have room 



