TO RINGGOLD BARRACKS. 503 
Monterey, and other towns, under various political 
pretexts; while the real object was to destroy the 
custom-houses, for the purpose of introducing mer- 
chandise without duty. Large quantities had thus 
been brought in, and sent into the interior of the 
country. 
Rode out to the Bishop’s palace; from which, as 
well as from the Loma de Independencia in the rear, 
one obtains a fine view of the city. This is a fine old 
building of stone, and in its day was no doubt an ele- 
gant structure; 1t was in ruins, however, long before 
General Worth took it. The hill on which it stands is 
about one hundred and twenty-five feet high; but the 
portion where the American forces made their charge, 
is some fifty feet higher. On reaching that, they com- 
manded the palace, where the Mexicans had entrench- 
ed themselves behind a strong battery, but which they 
were soon compelled to evacuate. 
The city stands on a plain about a mile distant, 
and is embosomed among beautiful gardens and or- 
chards, its white houses presenting a striking contrast 
with the deep green of the foliage. To the south, 
runs a small stream, a branch of the San Juan River, 
in the midst ofa broad arroyo; beyond which a chap- 
poral plain interspersed with a few cornfields, extends 
about seven miles to the Saddleback Mountain, one 
of the most singularly shaped eminences in the coun- 
try. This mountain is isolated, and forms the last link 
of the great chain which so abruptly terminates here. 
To the north and east of the city, a broad plain extends 
as far as the eye can reach, with here and there fields 
of corn and sugar cane, among wider fields of chappo- 
