SOCIETY. 407 



River, where that stream breaks through the range of low 

 hills, twenty-five miles north of the bay of San Pedro. The 

 streets are mostly of good width, but they are not straight ; 

 they do not cross each other at right angles ; they are not 

 graded, nor are they paved. All the old bouses are built of 

 adobes, and most of them are of one story, with flat roofs of 

 asphaltum. The new houses are of wood and brick. On the 

 northwestern side of the town, and very near to the most busy 

 part of it, is a hill about sixty feet high, whence an excellent 

 view of the whole place may be obtained. The vineyards and 

 gardens are beautiful. There are 2,500 or 3,000 acres of bril- 

 liant green — the largest body of land in vineyard, garden, and 

 orchard within so small a space in the state. The fences fix 

 the attention of the stranger. They are made of willow-trees, 

 planted from nine inches to two feet apart, the spaces between 

 the trunks being filled with poles and brush. After the fences, 

 the stranger's notice is attracted by the zanjas^ or irrigating 

 ditches, which run through the town in every direction. These 

 zcU'jas vary in size, but most of them have a body of water 

 three feet wide, and a foot deep, running at a speed of five 

 miles an hour. They carry the water from the river to the 

 gardens, and are absolutely necessary to secure the growth of 

 the fences, vines, and many of the fruit-trees, at least when 

 young. One of the officers of the town is the zanjero, whose 

 duty it is to take charge of the zanjas^ see that they are kept 

 in order, and that the water is equally distributed among those 

 entitled to it. Entering the enclosures, we are among the 

 vines, orange, lemon, lime, citron, pear, apple, peach, olive, 

 fig, and walnut trees. Many of the vines are from ten to 

 thirty years of age. The population of the place may be de- 

 scribed as of nearly four equal classes, Americans, Europeans, 

 Spanish Californians and Indians. The Americans own most 

 of the houses and land in the town, the Europeans probably 

 do most of its trade. The town is the seat of the county 

 government, and the chief business place in this part of the 

 state. Its merchants trade largely to Salt Lake. Los Angeles 



