2. : “+ , & 
= * 
wo 25 (ray 
— te 
We made an acorn éal at*noon, an dherted: on; the valley being ga 4 
with flowers, and som: sfihe banks being whactatste- ti : 2 segrie om 4 
_fornian poppy, (eschscholtzia crocea.) Here the ss was s cna 
green, and the hag very open; the large oaks throwing a fey shade ; 
mong sunny spots. ‘Shortly afterwards we gave a shout at the appearance 
ms a little butt of a néatly built adobe house with glass windows. Wee 
¢.up, but, to our disa ppointment, found only Indians. There wasnoap- ~ 
puirenee of calti¥ation,® d we eould see no cattle, and we tz . 
place had been abandon + 2 We now pressed on more eagerly than ever; © 
the river swept round in a large bend to the right; the hills lowered down 
entirely ; and, «gradually entering a broad valle , We came unexpectedly 
into a large Indian village, where the people looked clean, and wore cotton 
shirts and various other articles of dress. .They immediately crowded 
around us, and we had the inexpressible delight to find one who spoke a 
little indifferent Spanish, but who at first confoundedws b ysiyi ngthere'were 
no whites in the country ; but just then a well-dressed Ind neamé up, and= 
made his salutations*in very well coe Spanish. In answerto ourin- — 
quiries, he iain us that we were upon _ de los Ameriéanos, (the 
river of the Americans,) and that it joined the Sacramento evi about 10 
*: laa lo am did a name sound more sweetly! We felt ourselves 
our countrymen; for the name of pees 2 in these distant parts, 
js applied to the citizens of the United States. To our eager inquirieshe 
"answered, “1 am awaguero,( cow herd) iff the service of Capt. Sutter, and 
_the people of this rancheria work for him.”? Our evident satisfaction made™~ 
_him communicative; and he went on to say that Capt. Sutter was a very » 
ehoman, and alway glad to see his countrypeople. We asked for his — 
He answere és that it was Just. over the hill before us; and off . 
e would’wait a moment, to — his horse and eonduct us to it. We* 4 
real Ae tina sane offer. .In a short distance we came in sight ofthe 
, passing on the way the house ofa settler on the opposite side,” — 
(a Mr. cag ah ' “a @river} and in a few miles were meta short 
m the fort a Sutter _— He gave us a most frank 
and aerdisd rece pts mmediately to his residence—a af 
under his hospitable abhi en it of rest, i Bae aie = 
a which none ‘but odrsebvgg V apprecia the eft in. ~ 
hem. On the second rs we met, a few miles below the forks of the Rio 
de los Americanos; anda more forlorn and'pitiable sight than they present- 
ed:cannot well be imagined. They were all on foot—each man, weak and ~ 
enfaciated, leading a horse or mule as weak and emaciated as 2 wageaaacne 
They had ‘experienced great difficulty in descending the mountains, m 
; by rains and melting snows, and many! horses fell over preeipicesy= 
and were killed; and with some were lost the packs they carried. Among 
these, was a mule with the plants which we had collected since leaving” — 
Fort inevof 2,000 miles travel, Out of 67 horses and mules: i 
with whi we eaegea crossing the Sierra, only 33 reached the v: ’ 
tty; tyavellidi more slowly had been able to “make some some 
se be unting, and had killed a few deer = = eee 
wasia erent 1 to them ; for several ye been made oils many ={ 
and unwhole dogs yest. the p vation of life 
" M2 Ss a e 
oe 
