66 
CALIFORNIA ILLUSTRATED. 
my rifle and went down the river to Aunt; I had promised my¬ 
self a supper of wild duck, but they proved to be, on that par¬ 
ticular day, all crows, and I compensated myself in part by 
picking a quantity of grapes. These were put into our camp- 
kettle and served up for supper. We thought them delicious, 
but the next morning, to our regret, we learned that we had 
forgotten to sweeten them. Late in the afternoon, a party of 
Indians started, fully equipped, to lasso horses, that were herd¬ 
ing on the bottom lands of the Sacramento, six miles distant. 
They rode at the top of their speed, the horse and rider seeming 
moved by the same impulse. At night we spread our blankets 
in the open air. Some one of the party had been throwing out 
insinuations reflecting upon the character of the grizzly bear, 
that were said to abound in our immediate vicinity; not only 
that they were in the habit of “ running around nights,” but 
that they had a tendency to cannibalism. One of the party 
took a particular fancy to my rifle; whether it was the beauty 
of the piece, his predilection for the owner, or the fiery appear¬ 
ance of the cap, that stole his affections, I am not prepared to 
say. He folded it in his blanket and seemed to sleep the better 
for it. Soon after dark the California serenade commenced. 
The performers being two packs of wolves, the prairie (coyotas) 
and large gray wolf, each carrying a part, and in the latter were 
incorporated some of the best alto voices I ever heard. We 
were aroused early in the morning by a member of the above 
choir, who passed over the foot of our bed. 
After breakfast we filled our flasks with water from the river 
and started. Our team travelled in a cloud of dust which hid 
them from our view. We moved on in advance. The day was 
excessively hot, and we were obliged to stop often for our team, 
in order to refill our flasks. After traveling five miles we over¬ 
took an ox-team loaded, and several mules packed, on the way 
to the mines. (See Plate). There were also several teams in the 
distance, moving in the same direction. We soon saw three 
men mounted on mules, coming toward us, who appeared to 
be returning from the mines. They were in high spirits , gallop¬ 
ing along a little off the main track. One of them, in order, 
probably, to show a proper respect, pulled out his revolver and 
fired. His mule, taking the cue from his master, wishing to 
