TRAVELS IN THE CALIFORNIA S. 
67 
him when he emigrated to the country, and trained him for 
the turf. Every year he had challenged the whole country 
to the course, and as often won everything wagered against 
his noble steed. Jose Castro, a villain with a lean body, 
dark face, black mustachios, pointed nose, flabby cheeks, 
uneasy eyes, and hands and heart so foul as instinctively 
to require a Spanish cloak, in all sorts of weather, to cover 
them, and his Excellentissimo were among Graham’s heavi¬ 
est debtors. Behold the reasons of their enmity. 
Another cause of the general feelings against the Ameri¬ 
cans and Britons in California was the fact that the Senoritas , 
the dear ladies, in the plenitude of their taste and sympathy 
for foreigners, preferred them as husbands. Hence Jose 
Castro was heard to declare a little before the arrest of the 
Americans and Britons, that such indignities could not be 
borne by Castilian blood; u for a Californian Cavaliero can¬ 
not woo a Senorita if opposed in his suit by an American 
sailor, and these heretics must be cleared from the land.” 
Such were the causes operating to arouse the wrath and 
ripen the patriotism of the Californians. The vengeance 
of baffled gallantry bit at the ear of Captain Jose Castro ; 
the fear of being brought to justice by Graham, tugged at 
the liver of Alvarado ; and love the keenest, and hate the 
bitterest, in a soul the smallest that was ever entitled to the 
breath of life, burnished the little black eyes and inflamed 
the little thin nose of one Corporal Pinto. These were the 
worthies who projected the onslaught on the foreigners. 
Their plan of operation was the shrewdest one ever con¬ 
cocted in California. 
Since the u Revolution” of ’36 the Californian Spaniards 
had been convinced that the Americans and Britons were 
vastly their superiors in courage and skill in war. From 
the beginning, therefore, it was apparent that if they were 
to get one or two hundred of these men into their power, it 
must be done by stratagem. Accordingly, Graham’s annual 
challenge for the spring races in 1840, was conveniently con- 
