SOCIETY 



the largest body of land in vineyard, garden, and orchard 

 within so small a space in the State. The fences fix the atten- 

 tion 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 

 zcinj>:i$ 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 three nearly equal classes, Americans, Europeans, 

 and Spanish Californians. 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. The 

 general impression upon my mind, after spending the last 

 week in September in the place, is that it is one of the most 

 pleasant places, known to me, to visit. The luxuriant vegeta- 

 tion, with its sub-tropical character, is peculiarly agreeable 

 to the sons of the North. The " clime of the sun," " the land 

 of the cypress and myrtle," where the citron blooms and the 

 golden oranges glow amidst the dark-green leaves, have ever 

 been with the poets of the colder lands the symbols of a ter- 

 restrial paradise, and some of the most brilliant verses of 

 Goethe and Byron have been inspired by admiration of them. 



