GREAT ABUNDANCE OF STOCK. 196 



To speak of Western California as a whole, it may be pronounced hilly, 

 if not mountainous, and about two thirds of it is probably fit for agricultu- 

 ral purposes. 



The creeks are frequently immured by precipitous walls of several hund- 

 red feet in altitude, that, expanding here and there, give place to beautiful 

 valleys of variable width, while most of the low-lands upon their banks 

 are skirted by continuous and abrupt acclivities leading to the high prai- 

 ries, table lands, and mountains contiguous to them. Their currents are 

 generally clear and rapid, flowing over beds of sand, pebbles, and rock, and 

 aflbrd wholesome and delicious water. 



The air is almost invariably pure and free from the noxious exhalations 

 common to many countries, which contributes greatly to render the climate 

 uniformly healthy — a character tvhich it has hitherto sustained by common 

 report. 



Some travellers, however, speak of large Indian villages in difTerent 

 parts, deserted and in ruins, whose sites are bestrown with human bones 

 and sculls, as if the entire population had been swept off by the frightful 

 ravages of deadly pestilence, and so suddenly that not a soul was left to 

 bury their dead ; and hence they suppose the country occasionally subject 

 to devastating sicknesses. The above, however, may with equal propriety 

 be charged to the account of war. 



Game is quite plentiful in the Western Division of Upper California, 

 and in many places extremely abundant, especially in the mountains 

 near the head-waters of the Tulare and Sacramento rivers. . 



Among the different varieties are enumerated deer, (black-tailed and 

 white-tailed,) elk, antelope, goats, bear, (black, red, and grizzly,) beaver, 

 geese, brants, ducks, and grouse, with wild horses and cattle ; — buffalo 

 are unknown to the Province. 



Never was a country better adapted to stock-raising than is this, and 

 perhaps none, according to the number of its inhabitants, so abundantly 

 supplied with horses, cattle, and sheep. The former of these abound in 

 countless numbers, whenever a white man or a Spanio-Mexican makes it 

 his residence. A single individual frequently owns from eight to ten thou- 

 sand head of horses and mules ; and, not rarely, even as high as fifteen or 

 twenty thousand. 



These animals are very hardy and trim-built, and only a trifle smaller 

 than those common to the United States. I have seen many of them equal- 

 ly as large as the American breed, and, as a general thing, they are more 

 durable under fatigue and hardship. 



The choicest animals from a band of several thousand may be purchas- 

 ed for ten dollars, and the ordinary price for prime selections ranges from 

 three to five dollars, while mares may be procured for two dollars per head. 



Cattle are equally plenty, at prices varying from two to four dollars per 

 head. 



Stock is raised without trouble, as the abundance of grass aflords pas- 

 turage the entire season, nor is necessary a resort to either hay or house. 

 In fact, both cattle and horses not only thrive best but are fattest in the 

 winter season, owing to the absence of flies and insects, as well as the 

 partial freshness of vegetation. 



The common method of stock-raising is by turning them loose into the 



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