108 
SCENES IN TIIE PACIFIC. 
twittering softly one to another, coursing through the air and 
marshalling and gabbling among the waves, as if keeping 
vigil over the slumbers of Nature ! 
The coast from Monterey to the Canal cle Santa Barbara is 
broken into elevated hills, fringed with forests of pine and oak, 
and covered with the wild grasses. From these flow many 
valuable little streams, which gurgle and plash down deep 
and verdant ravines to the sea. It is a beautiful wilderness ; 
a country for the wild horse, the mighty grisly bear, the un¬ 
domesticated cattle of a thousand hills; a blithe domain for 
the human race, when true and valiant men shall govern it. 
The first sound that fell upon my ear on the first day of 
May, was the rippling of the water at the ship’s side. She 
was moving slowly down the Canal de Santa Barbara. At 
nine o’clock we cast anchor before the town, lowered the 
boat and shot away to the beach. The prison-ship was lying 
at anchor in the roadstead ! Our countrymen were incarce¬ 
rated at the mission ! We might be of some service to them; 
and that expectation gave us all infinite pleasure, in being 
again in their neighborhood. 
Santa Barbara is situated on an inclined plane, which rises 
gradually from the sea side to a range of picturesque high¬ 
lands, three and a half miles from the sea. The town itself is 
three quarters of a mile from the landing. The houses are 
chiefly built in the Spanish mode, adobie walls, and roofs of tile. 
These tiles are made of clay, fashioned into half cylinders, 
and burned like brick. In using them, the first layer is placed 
hollow side up ; the second inversely, so as to lock over the 
first. Their ends overlap each other as common shingles do. „ 
This roofing serves very well in dry weather. But when the 
driving southwesters of the winter season come on, it aflbrds 
a poor shelter. Very few of the houses have glass windows. 
Open spaces in the walls, protected with bars of wood, and 
plank shutters, serve instead. Mr. A. B. Thompson, a wealthy 
and hospitable American merchant, has erected a residence 
