CALIFORNIA. 
85 
On the bigh grounds strawberries of excel 
lent quality and larger tban those of Europe 
are found, ripening in May and June. 
Near the junction of the Feather River with 
the Sacramento, Mr. Bryant met with natives 
collecting the acorns of an evergreen oak 
(probably the Castanea found by Mr. Hart- 
weg) ; the flour of these acorns, obtained by 
drying and pulverising them, is made into a 
kind of bread, and is with them the " staff of 
life," being the chief article of subsistence of 
the wild Indians of this part of California. 
The acorn of California from the evergreen 
oak is much larger, more oily, and less bitter, 
than that on the Atlantic side of the continent. 
In fruitful seasons, the Indians gather and lay 
up a supply of these acorns, sufficient for 
more than a year's consumption. 
Bryant mentions a plant which he calls 
Canchalagua, regarded by the Californians 
as an antidote for all diseases. This is pro- 
bably the Erythrcea Cachaulahuan, a species 
of Gentianwort, known to possess famous 
stomachic qualities. According to Bryant's 
statement, it is particularly employed in cases 
of ague and fever ; and for purifying the 
blood and regulating the system, he thinks it 
must become an important article of medicine. 
The fields of California are adorned by its 
pretty pink blossoms during May and June. 
A species of Collinsia, C. tinctoria, which 
has the seed-pods covered with glandular hairs 
which stain yellow, was found by Hartweg 
on the mountains near the Chuba, a tributary 
of the Feather River ; and in the mountains 
between the Sacramento and its tributary the 
Feather River, he met with an umbelliferous 
plant, called Yerba de la Vivora, the leaves 
and stems of which are universally used with 
success against the bite of rattlesnakes. The 
bruised roots of a species of Zygadenus, 
called Amole, found near Monterey, are used 
as a substitute for soap {Hartweg); the root, 
or rather bulb, which is the sa ponaceous portion, 
resembles the onion {Bryant). Another va- 
riety of the Amole used as a substitute for 
soap, is eaten when washed, and has an agree- 
able sweetish taste. Mr. Bryant found wild 
flax in abundance in the neighbourhood of 
the Bear River ; the fertile districts seem to 
afford a great variety of exceedingly nutri- 
cious grasses ; the varieties are very numer- 
ous, and nearly all of them heavily seeded 
when ripe, and almost equal to corn as food 
for animals, which thrive and fatten upon 
them without other food. The horses, as well 
as cattle, subsist entirely on these indigen- 
ous grasses, at all seasons of the year ; and the 
seeds are sometimes gathered by the Indians 
to make into bread. These grasses spring 
up as soon as the ground becomes moistened, 
and grow through the entire winter ; some 
kinds are, however, evergreen and perennial. 
In the neighbourhood of Mary's River grows 
a small trumpet-shaped flower, the corolla of 
which is blue and scarlet, and a plant " with 
a flaming torch-like development of brilliant 
scarlet." {Bryant). The latter perhaps is a 
Castilleja. 
Of the beautiful flora of all that part 
of this region which, watered by sufficient 
rains, supports a thriving vegetation, we 
have ample evidence in the many plants 
introduced thence to our gardens, and now 
carefully cultivated there among its highest 
ornaments. The greater number of the best 
of our hardy annual plants have been obtained 
from California ; among them, the Nerao- 
philas, the Collinsias, the Gilias, the Lepto- 
siphons, the Eutocas, many lupins, and various 
others scarcely less familiar and beautiful. 
For many beautiful hardy bulbs of the genera 
Calochortus, Cyclobothra, Calliprora, and 
Brodiasa our gardens are also indebted to 
California. Besides these, various perennial 
plants have been obtained from the same 
source, and not a few trees and shrubs, in- 
cluding nearly or quite all the noble pines 
already referred to. Even within this last 
year or two a subject of peculiar interest, 
from its great beauty and perfect hardiness, 
the Zauschneria californica, bearing a pro- 
fusion of scarlet blossoms like those of a 
fuchsia, has rewarded the researches of Mr. 
Hartweg in the neighbourhood of Santa Cruz. 
Agricultural and Horticultural Capacities. 
Of all that tract of land watered by the 
Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers the fer- 
tility must be at least equal to that of any 
country in the world, and it is to this region, 
lying between the shores of the Pacific and 
the Snowy range of mountains, that the atten- 
tion of settlers should be directed. Other 
spots farther eastward may be met with 
where all the conditions of fertility are pre- 
sent, but the tracts appear to be too small or 
too isolated to admit of their being peopled, 
at least as yet, by enterprising cultivators. 
In many parts of the fertile region just re- 
ferred to, the higher table lands and mountain 
sides afford admirable salubrious pastoral 
tracts, which at once, in conjunction with 
the excellent and nutritive grasses natural to 
the soil, mark out the capabilities of California 
as a country adapted for the cattle-breeder. 
The horned cattle of California are large, 
handsome, and very numerous. Horses and 
mules are correspondingly abundant. Travel- 
lers say that the sheep are abundant, and the 
mutton is described as being of excellent 
quality. Beef is so abundant and fine that 
game is but little hunted. The elk and other 
deer are very plentiful Hides and tallow 
have hitherto formed a large export. Swine 
