222 
LETTERS FROM CALIFORNIA.— NO. 3. 
our pipes, (the almost universal companion of the 
huntsman and wanderers in these wilds,) we sung 
and joked away the evening till it was time to be- 
take ourselves to rest. Each brought to our fes- 
tive board, whatever of daring feat, or wild exploit. 
or romantic incidents he had learned or witnessed ; 
and the varied and striking recitals, amid these 
lofty sierras and picturesque scenes by which we 
are surrounded, gave to the ready listeners, an in- 
terest and excitement, the placid drivellers of a 
drawing room or theatre, or even the wearisome 
inanity of the ball room at a fashionable watering 
place, might envy. The pure bracing air, our 
plain but substantial and easily digested fare, and 
the wholesome excitement of body and mind, gave 
us an appetite for sleep in which we indulged, (with 
the exception of the watch, whom we deemed it 
proper to provide against any possible depredation, 
and who was regularly relieved every two hours,) 
till the sun had fairly crowned the height of the 
elevated mountains. We immediately sprung to our 
feet, hastily cooked our morning meal, being sup- 
plied with pure water for our coffee, as in the eve- 
ning before, from the adjacent stream. Then, 
shipping our tent, we pushed up the creek as far as 
navigable with our light bark, then run her ashore 
and made fast to a sappling, and with our arms 
and ammunition in hand, we bade a temporary adieu 
to our craft. We sought the peak of one of those 
lofty sierras that had bounded this valley on either 
side, through its whole distance. From this point, 
we had an almost uninterrupted view to the south, 
as far as our vision could discern. 
The sierras here almost interlock, but gradually 
diverge till they reach their southern limits, when 
they are seven or eight miles apart. Some of these 
mountains, unlike the majority of those in Califor- 
nia, are covered with lofty trees to their summits. 
At their base," the verdant plain stretches out to the 
river on either side, and with the clumps of grace- 
ful oaks which everywhere dot this valley, and the 
numerous herds of cattle grazing amid the foliage, 
the scene was one of enchantment, and would well 
repay the tourist for a toilsome journey of one 
hundred miles. The aguas calientes, the most 
noted of the numberless hot springs 6f California, 
welled out from the base of an adjoining hill, the 
mysterious messenger from those perhaps not remote 
subterranean fires,- which in by-gone ages, have 
peopled these regions with the everlasting moun- 
tains of trap and basalt. The soil of this valley is 
unsurpassed among the fertile valleys by which it 
is surrounded. It is principally alluvial, and its 
formation from the fertile ingredients of the decom- 
posing lava of the adjoining sierras, indicates clearly 
the causes of its fertility. It is rather to the pres- 
ence of enriching salts than the accumulation of 
vegetable matters, that its great productiveness is 
owing. 
There is a natural herbage here, as elsewhere 
throughout the well-watered and fertile portions 
of California, which yields the most nutritious 
food to cattle, horses, and other animals, which 
abound here. A thick coating of soft, rich pasture 
covers the valleys through a considerable portion 
of the year, commencing just after the beginning of 
the rainy season, and lasting till the parching heat 
of summer dries up every particle of moisture. 
Many species of these grasses ripen an abundant 
harvest of farinaceous seeds, which are shaken out 
and thrown into windrows by every passing breeze. 
This is the carnival time with cattle, both wild 
and tame ; and to the luscious repast, they assemble 
from mountain and glen, and load their carcasses 
with savory flesh and fat. It is after they have 
become thus surfeited with these grassy spoils, 
that the cattle are driven- to the mataderos, and are 
there slaughtered for their hides, tallow, and jerked 
beef. The latter is taken from the haunches, cut 
into thin slices, and dried in the open air, without 
salt or smoke, for so dry and pure is the atmos- 
phere at that season, that the meat is effectually 
cured in a short time without taint. Numerous 
herds of elk abound throughout the year, and at 
this period are so fat, as to be easily taken, when 
they yield 100 or more pounds of suet, which is 
tried out and retained for cooking their frijolcs> 
tortillas, and other vegetable food. Bears, also, 
both grisly and others, are plenty and fat at this 
season, from the abundance of the mast and the 
live game, which at this time is within" their reach. 
Deer, antelopes, wild turkeys, &c, are everywhere 
to be found, at this season of plenty, and all are 
easily accessible to the skilful hunters. Of course, 
all these must soon yield before the resistless march 
of the ever-successful Anglo-Saxon invader. 
There is a species of pine here, which produce.? 
large cones, each of which contain numerous seeds 
of the size of medium acorns. The ground is 
often loaded with these, and they furnish a de- 
licious repast to swine, cattle, deer, wild turkeys, 
pheasants, &c. 
If nature is niggard of her cultivable acres here, 
owing to the large proportion of sterile lands and 
inaccessible sierras, she is prodigal of her bounties 
wherever she furnishes them within the narrow 
circuit of her fertile valleys. These pervade the 
borders of this coast, (speaking in an enlarged 
sense, and comprehending a space seldom exceeding 
50 to 100 miles in width,) and between the lofty 
and frequently inaccessible hills or mountains by 
which they are bounded, there generally lies a se- 
cluded spot of earth, than which, no portion of the 
Creator's heritage furnishes a greater variety or 
abundance of valuable products that minister to the 
support of man. Everywhere, we find the stalwart 
maize, which here sometimes grows, (the Mexican 
variety,) to the height of 18 or 20 feet. Wheat is 
almost universally grown, as well as oats, barley, 
buckwheat, &c. Beans and peas are an invariable 
crop, the former, (frijoles,) compose a part of every 
meal, cooked in the fat of animals or sweet oil. 
Yams and sweet potatoes can be everywhere raised, 
and in most places the northern potato is abun- 
dant, and of good quality. Melons of great size 
and richness are grown, while by the side of the 
staples of a temperate or almost northern clime, are 
seen in the greatest profusion — figs, bananas, or- 
anges, lemons, citrons, olives,and grapes, the latter 
of a richness and flavor that the most favored re- 
gion can hardly surpass. A species of gigantic 
rush called tula grows over most of the marshes; 
and with thongs of leather or bark, the natives cam, 
at a moment's notice, gather a few large bundles of 
these reeds, and when lashed together, they serve 
to raft the heaviest loads over the broadest streams. 
