454 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 



the acre, as in the American states, but by the square league 

 (containing four thousand four hundred and thirty-eight acres), 

 which was " the unit of measurement" in granting public lands 

 outside of the towns. The government granted away its lands 

 willingly, and without compensation ; no pay was required ; 

 the only condition of the grant was, that the grantee should 

 occupy the land, build a house on it, and put several hundred 

 head of cattle on it. Whenever he promised to comply with 

 these conditions, he could get a grant of any piece of public 

 land, of eleven square leagues or less, for which he might pe- 

 tition. It was a grand Mexican homestead law ; and the 

 chief complaint made about it was by the government, that 

 the number of applicants for grants was not greater. The 

 grants were not made according to the American land sys- 

 tem, which would have been entirely unsuited to the wants 

 and habits of the Mexican j^eople. The public lands in Cali- 

 fornia were never surveyed. I do not know whether a Mexi- 

 can surveyor was ever seen in California; I feel confident 

 that no ranch was ever surveyed, and its boundaries described, 

 with bearings and distances, previous to 1846. The descrip- 

 ' tions of the land granted were very vague. In most cases a 

 certain number of leagues were given, Avithin well known 

 natural land-marks, which might include a district of fifty or a 

 hundred miles square. In such case, the grantee could locate 

 his ranch at any place within the limits. Sometimes a grant 

 of so many leagues was made, at a place to which a name had 

 been affixed by the Indians or Californians, and then the 

 ranch included that spot; sometimes a ranch was described 

 as bounded on one side by a range of mountains, on another 

 by a river, and on other sides by ranches of older date. The 

 Californians did not quarrel about their boundaries. If A's 

 cattle crossed to B's ranch, for better pasture in the summer, 

 B's would probably go to A's at another season. The herds 

 were not closely kept. The cattle roamed about almost in a 

 wild state, often unseen of man for months. So wild were 

 they, that though they knew very well that a man on horse- 



