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Show 104 Ex. Doc. No. 41. Jiffs, hailed by th Florida ceimpaigncr , ome of whom were along, as old fri<•nd~. Tht·y Wt.'rc Cilbbag ·tre e~ , and marked the loc.a le of a spring and a s~a ll P.at eh of gra ·s. W foun.<l. also to -day , 111 fu1l bloom the bronnta SJHn osa, a rare an<l bcautdul plant; the plan-tago, n' ew to our flor a; a new spe(' .t es o[. er..L Ogonu.m, very r mark. - ab I e for it ext rcme I y n u merou · I o ng hat r-lt k fnul ·talks an<l mlnute ClowNs. W , rod· for roilrs through thickets of the <'<'ntennial p1ant, a~ ave Am c ric an a, and f o. u n <.1 on c in full b I o om. The sharp t horns terminating ev 'ry leaf of thts plant, were a. g r at annoyance to our di mounted and weari 'd mt>n who c leg· were now almost bar . A number of these plants were ·ut by the . oldier , and the body of them used a food. The day was int cn ely hot, and the sand deep; the animals, inflat ed with wat 'r and ru hcs, gave way by scores; and although we a<lvanced only ixteen miles, many did not arrive' at camp until 10 o clo ck at night. It wa a. feast day for the wolves, which followed in packs ·lo eon our tra ck, eizing our de-ert 'd brut s and making the air resound with their howls as they battled for the carcas. e . The water come to the surface in pools at this place. It i a valley ~ ur r ounded by high bleak mountains destitute of vegetation. The mountains are of a micaceou granite seamed with volcanic matter. The grass, which is coarse, extends for a mile or two along the valley. A heavy cloud overhung the mountains to lh west, and the wind blew a hurricane from that quarler; yet our %enith was never obscured, except for a minute at a time by a fleeting cloud detached from the great bank. A horse was killed for foou, which was eatl'n with grt'at appetite, and all of it consumed. Novernber 30.-N ot w i lhstn n ding the water was sal tish and in pools, and the gra s unfavorable to the hor es, yet we were compplled to '\vail ourselves of it for a day to recruit. The day and ni6ht were very unplea ·ant, from the high win(l which came over the ~now-clad mountain to the west. The ground, too, was tremulous, and my observations for lime, by whi ch I hoped to obtain the rat of my · h ron ometers, were not . uch as I cou 1 d desire . Dccen1-b er 1.-W e ascend t•d the va 11 y, now d c. ti lute of both gra~ a.n(~ water, t_o it t e!· m!nation, and then descended to the d ' erteu I n d 1 an v til a g o f an li c 1t p p e . T h e moun t a i n s o n either s i cl e a. r e lofty, I upposc from 3,000 to 5,000 fee l high, and those to the :vc, t encrust ·d on the top with snow and i cicle . Our camp was 111 a. long field of gras:;;, three or four mil s in extent through which a warm stream fl.owcd and drained through a ce1 iio'n to the north, abreast of the vtllagc. We went to the barren hills and colle('ted the dry sage and scrub mczquite, with whi ·h we made a feeble f1re. The larrea Mcxica na. grew here also, but it is unfit for fuel. .Ahout n.it~c mile from the camp, we pa sed the summit whi ch is satd. to ~II\ td ' the '~ate rs flowing into the Colorado from those flowing IIllO the Pactfic, uut I think it is a mistak . The pass is much below the peaks on either side, and the height gives no indi-t Ex. Doc. No. 11. 105 cation of the levation of th range, and, in<lec1l, th barom<'iric reading was but an indi fl'c rcnl indc.'x of the la·ight of th p<n~R, as ~he day was stormy. vV ·are .till to look f'or the glowing pieturcs drawn of California. As yet, barr ·nncss and d<·solation hold their reign. We longed to ·tumule upon the ranchcrias, with their flo ('ks of fat sheep and cattle. Meat of hor 's, may he very palatable w h n fa l, b u l ours are poor and tough , and i l i · hard l o ali fy l he era v in g of h ungc r w i lh such in diff<' re n l food. Early in th' day 's mar ·h , we m l two Indians, a man a.n<l woman; they could give us no information of what was passing on tb western side of the mountains. They ·ontinurd on with the utmost indifference, exhibiting no s ig ns of fear or astonishment at this sutld<·n apparition of ragged blue-coat . Th ·y had fine ath letic figures, but w ·re prematurely wrinkled from pov rty and expo ·urc to cold. December 2 ancl 3.-W c commenced to a c 'nd another "divide," and as we approach d the summit the narrow valley leading to it was covered with timb 'r and long gra, :. On both si( le , the ev<' rgreen oak grew luxuriantly, and, for the first time sine leaving the stales, we saw what "\vou:id even there be call ed large trPC'. Emerging from these, we saw in the di tance the beautiful vall 'Y of the Aqua. Calicntr, waving with yelJow grass, wh rc we •xpccled to find the rancheria. owned by an Ameri ·an name!l Warner. A we pa sed, ·rows and wolve were seen in number . Lea vi~g the val I y, we ascended the hi I J' to the north cov red with mezquite, eslafiat, &c. Our progrc ·s was ·low and painful; we thought Warn r s ran ·heria never would open on our cag r sight, when uddenly it bur l upon our view at the foot of the hill. We were mi taken for Indians, and soon were seen horsrm n at full speed lea<Jing off cattle and horse to the mountains. We qui ckened our pace to arre t thi · ]HOe •eding. The ran ch(' ria was in charge of a young fe I 1 ow from N cw Hampshire, n am ctl Marshall. We a ce rtain ed from him, that his employer was a prisoner to the AmcriC'a.n in an Diego, that the l\Ic .. ieans wcr' still in po::-~session of the whole of th c·otmlry except that port, an Francisco, and Monterey; that we were ncar the heart of llH' enemy . tronghold, whence he drew his su pplies of men, ·attle and horses, and that we w r~ now in pos ·c::ion of the great p<lss to en ora, by which he expected to r<'lrcat, if dd'cated, to send hi prisoner if successful, and to ·ommmunicate with Me il'o. 'l'o appease hung r, however, was the fir ·t consideration. S ·v<'n of my m c n cat, at on c sing 1 m c a 1 , a fat f u 11 g r o w n sheep . 0 u r camp was pitched on the road to the Pueblo, leading a li ttle north of west. To the south, down the valley of the Aqua Caliente, Jay the r?ad to an Diego. AboYc u wa.· ifr. \Varn e:·'s barkwoods, Amcrt can looking house, built of adobe nnd covered ''ith a thatdH·d roof. Around, w re tlt ·thatched hut · of tl1c mo1e than half n;d,(!d Indians? who arc held in a sort of crfdom by the ma~tcr of !he ran ch na. I visited on or two of the~e huts and found the Inmates living in great povt•rty. The thermometer was at 30°, they had no fire , and no coverings but sheepskin~. They told me, that |