INHABITANTS. 237 



area clothed with thin coarse grass ; an opening vallon next greets the eye 

 in the generous growth of its herbage and the fertility of its soil ; a beauti- 

 ful grove of stately pines, cedars, and pinions, rises in the back ground ; a 

 still larger, more expansive, and thrice lovely valley, skirts the banks of 

 some bounding stream, and delights the fancy with its smiling flowers and 

 luxuriant verdure. 



Here, a huge mountain rears itself in majesty— now, piling heaps upon heaps 

 of naked granite, limestone, sandstone, and basalt, variegated and pirti-col- 

 ored, — now, thickly studded with lateral pines, cedars, pinions, and hem- 

 locks, — then, again denuded, till at last its sharpened peaks pierce the clouds 

 while storms and tempests in their wild orgies haste to do it reverence. 

 There, a lesser, coniform elevation of the continuous chain, is mantled in 

 living green ; while perhaps by its side, another pains the eye with the 

 well detined lineaments of desolation. 



A country of this description occupies nearly the whole interval from 

 the two main branches of the Colorado to the dividing ridge of mountains. 



The valleys of the Uintah, and several other affluents within its limits, 

 however, are broad, fertile and tolerably well timbered. Grass continues 

 green nearly the entire winter, and game of all kind^^ common to the moun- 

 tains, excepting buffalo, is abundant. The valley soils are well adapted to 

 cultivation, and might sustain a large population. 



We come now to the southeastern extremity of the province, bordering 

 upon the Rio Gila which separates it from^Sonora, and lying between the 

 Colorado and the Sierra de los Mimbros range. 



This stretch, though less fertile as a general thing, partakes of much the 

 same characteristics as that upon the opposite side of the Colorado, and 

 upon Rio Virgen, south of the Digger country, which was so fully described 

 upon a former page. Tiie soil, however, is not generally so sandy, and the 

 landscape is far more rough and broken. The bottoms of the Colorado and 

 Gila, with their tributaries, are broad, rich, and well timbered. Everything 

 in the shape of vegetation attains a lusty size, amply evincing the exuber- 

 ent fecundity of the soil producing it. 



There are many sweet spots in the vicinity of both these streams, well 

 deserving the name of earthly Edens. Man here might fare sumptuously, 

 with one continued feast spread before him by the spontaneous products of 

 the earth, and revel in perennial spring or luxurate amid unfading summer. 



Yet, notwithstanding the other attractions held out, game is much less 

 plentiful in this than in other parts, — probably owing to the warmth of the 

 climate. 



Winter is unknown, and the only thing that marks its presence from that 

 of other seasons, is a continuation of rainy and damp weather for some two 

 or three months. All the wild fruits and grains indigenous to the country 

 are found here in profuse abundance. 



The entire Eastern Division of Upper California possesses a uniformly 

 salubrious and healthful atmosphere. Sickness, so far as my knowledge 

 extends, is rarely known. 



The natives, for the most part, may be considered friendly, or at least, 

 not dangerous. Some of them, in the neighborhood of the Gila and the 

 Gulf of California are partially advanced in civilization, and cultivate the 

 ground, raising corn, melons, pumpkins, beans, potatoes, &c. 



