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Show 118 Ex. Doc. No. 41. of the stream leading from the mi sion of San Juan de Capristano,_ and about two mil es from th' mis ion . It wa o d:uk 1 ('Ould not s' to lay off the lin s of the camp accurat ly, and I was glad, in tbc morni_ng , that an arly tart gave no time for rriti ·ism. Di ·tancc 1 .8 mile ~ . JanuaTy 5 .-Th m i ·sian of 'an Juan has passed in to the han d s o f the 1) i co fa m i 1 y . T h c cat h <' d r a I w a on c e a fi n e strong building, with an arrhed rupola; only one-half of the building, capped by a scgm nt of the cupola, is now standing, the otlH•r part having b en thrown down by an earthquak1~ in the year 1822, killing some thirty or forty per ons who hacl iled to it for refu ge. Attracted by a hou e having a uru h f •n('e round the door, as if to keep out intrud •r , I was told tlPre wer<' four men within, in the agonies of death, from wouncl rcceive<l at th hattl of an Pasqual. We moved to the Ali ·os ( ycamore) rantheria, where we found a spring of good water, but nothing to eat. Through the kindnc · of Mr. Fo ter, an Englishman, we rec ived h rc a supply of fresh horses. The road was principally through the valley of the tream watering the mi sion. On each side were beautiful rounded hi1ls, covered with a delicate tinge of green from the grass, which wa. now . prouting freely near the sca-eoasl. Up to this point, except a small patch at Fl0res, I had not seen the mark of a plough or any other in trumcnt of hu ban<lry. The rancherias wer entirely ~upported by r aring cattle and horses. Distance 11.1 mi lcs. January 6.-To-day we made a long mar ch of 19 mil s to the upper Santa Anna, a town situated on the river of th arne name. We were now near the enemy, and the town gav evidence of it. Not a soul was to be seen; the few p ·r ons remaining in it w r old women, who, on our approach, hc:ul bolted their doors. The lenders of the Californians, as a means of inciting their people to arms, made them believe we would plunder their house: and violate their women. Tak~ng a<~vantage of a deep ditch for one fac of the camp, it v:as la1d off 1.n a very <lefensihle po ilion betw ·en th town and the nv~r, expectmt;; the men woulcl have an undisturbed nighl' rest, to be .. m the mor.mng r ady for the fight, which might now be expect .a <.lady. In lh1 hope we were mi ~ la.kcn. The wind blew a huntcane, (something very unusual in thi · part of "alifornia,) and the atmo phere was fdled with particl, of fine dust, o that one could not ee and but with difll.culty breathe. Jantta?'Y 7 .-The win <l continued to blow viol en.Uy, whi c:h the enemy s.hould haYe take~ advantage of to a.Uark us. Our w~apons :vere ch1efly fire-an~ ; h1 , th lance; and I was quite c rt :Hn that In such a gale of wmd as th n blew, the difficulty of load10g our arm would have proved a serious mall ' r. The anta Anna is a fin , dashing . trcam kn c-deep and about 100 yards ~ide, flowing over a. sandy bed. 'In it. vallc'y are many valuable vweyar<l. and corn fiel<~s. It is capabl, of affording water to a great many more. On 1ts banks arc con idcrablc tracts |
