SOUTHERN OREGON. 265 



Bay Company, residing a few miles farther on, happened to be at the 

 mission, and very kindly offered them accommodations, which they 

 thankfully accepted. They found him lodged in a comfortable two- 

 story adobe house, situated on the border of an extensive prairie, but 

 without any trees or cultivation around it. He entertained them 

 very hospitably. 



The party visited Santa Clara the next day, where their reception 

 was very courteous, and furnished a strong contrast to that at San 

 Jose. After two days' journey, they reached Yerba Buena at noon 

 on the 28th, having paid a visit to the mission of Nostra Senora de 

 los Dolores, within three miles of that place. 



They reached the ship the same afternoon, and though fatigued and 

 somewhat worn down, they had been much pleased with their jaunt. 



Although this journey from the Columbia to the Sacramento was 

 attended with much fatigue, yet the labour and suffering were more 

 than compensated by the information it furnished in relation to the 

 southern section of Oregon, and the addition of new objects to the 

 collections of the Expedition. Although every thing was not attained 

 that I intended, yet I feel satisfied that all was done which the very 

 limited time, and the hostile state of the country, would permit. To 

 the perseverance and prudence of Lieutenant Emmons, much credit 

 is due, as well as to the other officers and naturalists, for the manner 

 in which they co-operated with him. The duties assigned them were 

 performed under the most trying circumstances, while worn down by 

 distressing attacks of the ague and fever. This disease, in particular, 

 affected those members of the party who had been encamped on the 

 Willamette, where it was supposed they contracted it. 



The closing scene of the tour deserves a short notice, as it is pro- 

 bably peculiar to a country like California. On the arrival of the 

 party, it seemed to have been surmised by the inhabitants of Yerba 

 Buena, and by the few who dwell at the mission, presidio, and neigh- 

 bouring rancheria, together with the trappers and hunters, that our 

 horses and accoutrements must necessarily be parted with. I make 

 no doubt that good bargains were anticipated, or rather a determina- 

 tion made that they would have all for little or nothing. The alcalde, 

 the only person in authority, a man of much rotundity and little 

 height, interested himself exceedingly in the matter. In the first 

 place, it was discovered that many of the horses were not marked, and 

 therefore, agreeably to the laws of the country, they belonged to the 

 government ; secondly, that many of them were beyond recovery from 



vol. v. 67 



