SOUTHERN OREGON. 
249 
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 col¬ 
lections 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 perse¬ 
verance 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 determination 
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 their worn- 
out condition; thirdly and lastly, that if they did recover, they would 
be worthless. The same faults were applied to the pack-saddles, par- 
fleshes, and appichemens, that have been described in the beginning of 
this chapter, and which had caused so much trouble to procure. Their 
value, in the eyes of these gentlemen, was next to nothing. Under these 
circumstances, a notice was posted up at the few corners of the pueblo 
of Yerba Buena, that they would be disposed of by public auction. 
This attracted a great crowd, and among the number was the only 
representative of authority of the government, the redoubtable alcalde. 
The horses had been put in lots, as was likewise the case with the 
32 
VOL. V. 
