Sy 32S De Se eee re r — = ee 
Rs “Ss < - es . 
Ss eed Ps 174 1 4 
- 
& 
spikes in bloom, foot thebanks of the river, and piled the air with a 
light and grateful or a 
On the 26th we halted at the Arroyo de tis Calaveras, (Skull creek,) a, ~ 
“tributary to the San Joaquin—the previous two streams entering the bay | ; 
between the San Joaquin and Sacramento rivers. This place’is beautiful, 
with open groves of oak, and a grassy sward beneath, with many ntsin 
* ploom ; some varieties of which seem to love the shade of. the trees, eee 
_ grow there ‘in close small fields. Near the river, and replacing the grass, 
+ are great quantities of ammo/e, (soap Patt, 2 the Sapeves of which.aré used _ 
'-in California for making, among other th Ak for saddle clothsy A 
vine with a small white ‘flower, (melothria Dy cal dhere l@ yerba bwena, 
and which, from its abundance, gives name to_an island and town in the <a 
bay, was to-day very fr — on our, road—sometimes runnipg g on the — 
> Gae. o climbing the tree 
~M i 22 To o-day we fawidiea steadilyvand rapidly up the ean z for; 
Eiaailes an hour. Durin ng the earlier part ofthe-day, our ride had been = 
over a very level prairie, or rather a. succession of long stretches x! praiti es 
* 
7 
‘Over m of this ‘extent. the ve etation w the 
aie sons. 0 p : mye sre aie 
the. Joaquin spreads over the valley. About lo Pick se 
among innumerable flowers ; and a few miles further, fields oft the cameagain. 
blue-flowering lupine, which seems to rove ae  Nrignnasbood of water, indi- 
eated that we were approaching a strea e here found this beautiful 
shrub in thickets, some of them being 12 ae car Geessionally three 
_ or four plants were clustered pag tl forming a grand bouquet, about 90 
feet in circumference, and 10 fee t high; the whole summit covered with — 
spikes of flowers, the perfume of which i is very sweet and grateful. A lover 
of -natural,beauty can imagine. with what pleasure we rode among these 
flowering grovesy which filled.the air with a light and delicate . 
We continued our road for about half a mile 2 Anloneperset through 
_ grove of live oaks, which, in form, were the most symmetrical and beat 
_~ we had yet seen in this country. The ends of their branches rested on 
ground, forming somewhat more than a halfsphere of very fall and regular 
ners with leaves apparently smaller than usual. 
i e Californian poppy, of a rich orange ai, was numerous to- -day. 
Elk and several bands of antelope made their appearanee. 
r road was now one continued enjoyment ; and it was pleasant, ‘riding 
fe this assemblage of green pastures with varied flowers and scattered — 
groves, and out of the warm green spring, to look at the rocky and snowy 
~ peaks where lately we had suffered so much... o> perl m the timber, 
We came suddenly upon, the Stanislaus river, wh@ge we hoped to find a... 
ford, but the stream» was flowing by, dark and d ssi, a len by the moun- 
tain. APO 5 its general breadth was about 50 y 
ave sed. bout five miles up the river, sd tfbanped withowsiuliit 
Here. we eed a large eee in order to be siete 
sth ssufisient num ck at our wild animals #5 relieve those previously - 
pac 
_ Under the shite of Wii oak’, along the | river} I noticed d erodium cicuta- 
rien in bloom, eight ~ ches high. ae. 
oe pS See 
oa 
