122 Ex. Doc. No. 41. 



lancing him a volley, strange to say he did not fall. Almost at the 

 same instant, but a little before it, the Californians from the hill 

 did fire on the vaqueros. The rifles were then ordered to clear the 

 hill, which a single fire effected, killing two of the enemy. We 

 were now in^ possession of the town; great silence and mystery 

 was observed by the Californians in regard to Flores; but we were 

 given to_ understand that he had gone to fight the force from the 

 north, drive them back, and then starve us out of the town. To- 

 wards the close of ^ the day we learned very certainly that Flo'res, 

 with 150 men, chiefly Sonorians, and desperadoes of the country, 

 had fled to Sonora, taking with him four or five hundred of the best 

 horses and mules in the country, the property of his own friends. The 

 silence of the Californians was now changed into deep and bitter 

 curses upon Flores, 



Some^ slight disorder took place among our men at night, from 

 the facility of getting winie, but the vigilance of the officers soon 

 suppressed it. 



January 11. — It rained in torrents all day. I was ordered to se- 

 lect a site, and place a fort, capable of containing a hundred men; 

 with this in view, a rapid reconnoissance of the town was made, and 

 the plan of a fort sketched, so placed as to enable a small garrison 

 to command the town and the principal avenues to it. The plan 

 was approved. Many men came in during the day and surrendered 

 themselves. ' 



January 12. — I laid off" the work, and, before night, broke the 

 first ground. The population of the town, and its dependencies, is 

 about 3,000; that of the town itself, about 1,500. It is the centre 

 of wealth and population of the Mexico Californian people, and 

 has heretofore been the seat of governiHent. Close under the base 

 of the mountains, commanding the passes to Sonora, cut off" from 

 the north by the pass at San Barbara, it is the centre of the mili- 

 tary power of the Californians. Here all the revolutions have had 

 their origin, and it is the point upon which any Mexican force from 

 Sonora would be directed. It was therefore desirable to establish a 

 fort, which, in case of trouble, should enable a small garrison to 

 hold out till aid might come from San Diego, San Francisco, or Monte- 

 rey, places which are destined to become centres of American settle- 

 ments.* 



January 13.— It rained steadily all day, and nothing was done 

 on the work; at night I worked on the details of the fort. 



Thursday 14.— We drank to-day the wine of the country, manu- 

 factured by Bon LuisVigne, a Frenchman. It was truly delicious, 

 resembling more the best description of Hock than any other wine- 

 Many bottles were drunk, leavipg no headache or acidity on the 

 stomach. We obtained, from the same gentleman, a profusion ot 

 grapes and luscious pears, the latter resembling in colot and taste 

 the Bergamot pear, but different in shape, being longer and larger. 



y to niy leaving tte Ciudad de los Angeles, the entire plan of the fort was 



M ■ 



