542 WARNER'S RANCHO. - Book III. 
Warner's Rancho, a locality known by the name of Agua 
Caliente to the old Californians. The road over this pass 
is not difficult, and on the summit we had an interesting 
view of mountain scenery. Oaks and plantains grow on 
the elevation, the neighbouring declivities are clothed with 
evergreen shrubs of various species, and the distant peaks 
are crowned with a forest of tall pines. Warner's Rancho is 
a piece of land several square miles in extent, claimed by a 
Mr. Warner, but which was one of the many disputed land- 
claims at that time in the State. It is the most beautiful 
and valuable spot in the whole mountain district, through 
which our road led. Well watered by numerous springs, 
provided with excellent grass and all the natural conditions 
for agriculture and the industry of man, this locality 
could maintain a considerable town and several villages : a 
German colony, intending to settle in California, could 
scarcely select a more advantageous spot. The hills and 
mountains are overgrown with underwood, intermingled 
with scattered oaks, in part with regular woods, presenting 
numerous sites of peculiar beauty. The climate is salu- 
brious : the heat of the Colorada region does not exist 
here; copious rains fall during the winter, while snow 
covers the mountains. During the summer, vegetation is 
sustained by heavy dews, such as fell every night, much 
to our inconvenience : they constitute one of the charac- 
teristic features of the climate of the country from here to 
the coast; and every morning, during my journey to 
Los Angeles, I found my blanket, my hair, and beard 
covered with heavy dewdrops. I can assure timid people, 
who are afraid of exposing themselves to the night-air, that 
it does not kill, even when it covers us, in our sleep, with 
dewdrops, as it covers the leaves and blossoms of the 
fields. 
