OF NEW ALMADEN. 55 
value is justly appreciated by the people; as is shown 
by the readiness with which the stock for a railroad to 
connect San José with San Francisco was taken up. 
The road is excellent for the entire distance, and 
the stage rolled rapidly over it. Three miles from San 
Jose we passed the mission of Santa Clara, a collection 
of old buildings with a church. Here the land seemed 
to have been long under cultivation, judging from the 
long rows of venerable and gigantic overgrown oaks 
which border the road. There were also some fine 
large orchards and vineyards here, which belong to the 
mission. But the stage did not stop; and we had no 
time to examine it. At half-past four, we reached 
San José.* 
*T cannot refrain from quoting a passage from Vancouver, one of 
the most reliable of the early voyagers to California, giving an account 
of his journey from Monterey to Santa Clara. The reader will be struck 
with the resemblance between this district as described by him and the 
beautiful valley I visited north of San Francisco. 
“We considered our route to be parallel to the sea-coast; between 
which and our path, the ridge of mountains extended to the south-east- 
ward; and as we advanced, their sides and summits exhibited a high 
degree of luxuriant fertility, interspersed with copses of various forms 
and magnitude, and verdant open spaces enriched with stately fruit- 
trees of different descriptions. About noon we arrived at a very pleasant 
and enchanting lawn, situated amidst a grove of trees at the foot of a 
small hill, by which flowed a very fine stream of excellent water. We 
had not proceeded far from this delightful spot, when we entered a 
country I little expected to find in these regions. For about twenty 
miles, it could only be compared to a park which had originally been 
planted with the true old English oak; the underwood that had pro- 
bably attained its early growth, had the appearance of having been clear- 
ed away, and had left the stately lords of the forest in complete posses- 
sion of the soil, which was covered with luxuriant herbage, and beauti- 
