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Show • 122 Ex. Doc. No. 41. lancing him a vollry, strangr to say he tlicl not fall. Almo~t at the SiliU in tant, but a little bd'ore it, the alif'ornian. from th' hill did fire on the vaqunos. The rifles w ·rr then ord<·red to ·] •nr the hi 11 , w h i <.: h a s i n g I · fi r ' dfe d c d , k i II i n g two o f' t h • e n c tn y . We wcr now in possc·ssion of' the town; gref'l.t sil<·nc' an(\ mysU' ry was ob.·erv ·d by the U,tlif'ornians in regard to Fldns; but w' w •re given to undcrsta11d that 1t<' had gone to fight the fore • fr01n the north, drive them bad' and then starve us out or the town. '}'()wards t\t(• clos) of th' day W' }•<Hnl•d v•ry c•rtainly that l•~)ore ., with 150 men, chiefly ~onorians, and dcstH'rado<·s of the cou~try, had !lecllo Sonon1, laking with him four or fiv' hundr ·d of the h<•st h 0 r S C S and m \l] C. i 11 t lH• (' 0 U n try , the p r o.p e r t y 0 f' hi~ 0 W ll f r i • n d, . 1' he silence of tiH• Californians wa now changed into de ·p and bitt r curs ·upon Flor •s. Som • slight disonl 'r look plac among our m nat night, from the fa ·ility of g ·tting wine, but the vigilanc' of th • oHiccrs soon suppr ssed it. .JamtaTy 11.-It rainecl in torrent.· nll clay. I was ord reel to sc] ed a site, ar1d plare a fort, capable of eontaining a hundr d m~n; with this in view, a rapid r ·onnoi. sance of the town was made, ancl the plan of a fort ·kctched, so placed as to cnabl · a small garrison to c.: om man d the to w n an d t h e p r in c i p a 1 a v c n 11 c s to i t. 'l' h (' p I an was approved. Many Ll1 n cam in during th' day and. urr nd 'red them· lves. ](t1Hta1·y 12.-I laid off the work, ancl, befor night, broke tltc first ground. 1'h' population (Jf the town, ancl it ' depend ·ncirs, i. about 3,000; that of th<· town itself, about 1,500. lt is th · C'cntrc of w a.lth and population or the Me, i('O Californian pcoplr, and l1a heretofore been the, •at of gov •rnmeut. 1losc under th(' ba. c of the mountains, commanding the passes to Sonora, cut o(f from the north by th' pass al San l3arbara, it is tnc centre of the military pow r of th alifornians. ]I 'rr all tb r<'volutions ha.v • had th •ir origin, and it i · the point upon whi ·h any Mt' Xican fore<' from onora. would be dir •ct •d. It was th rrforc desirable to c:tablish a fort, whi ·h, in cas) of troubl ·, shoulll enabl' a' mall garrison to hold out till aid mi g ht come from an Diego, an ]'~ran ·i: ·o, or ~lont - rcy, pia· ·which arc destined to become ~cntres of American settlements. • Jan1wTy 13.-Jt rain<•cl stradily all dny, and nothing wa · done on th" work; at night 1 workl'd on th<' d ·tails of th fort. ThttTsrlny 14..- W' drauk to -day tit' wine of th country, manufactured by Don Luis Vignr, a F'r nl'hman. [twas truly deliciouH, r . <· m b l i n g m or t h c b (':-; t d · s · r i p t i on of 11 o d t h an a n y o t h e r w i n e · Many bottl 'S wrrc drunk, leaving no h '<l<!ach, or acidity on th stornac·h. \V obtain d, from th', anH' gcntl<•man, a profu . ion of grapes and luscious pears, the• latter r<'!' •mbling in ·olor and taste the J3 rgamot pear, but diil'crent in shape, b 'ing lon g <·r and larg r. •. nhsccpH'ntly to my lcnving tho Ciudacl do los Angclcs1 tho entire plan of th f1>rt wns chungoc.l, and 1 run not tlw projector of tho work finally n.doptod for tho dof•nco of thu.t town Ex. Doc. No. 41. 123 January ]G.-The cletails to work on thr fort wcr by rompan i c s. l s (• n t t o C a p t a i n T i I g It m , n , w h o <' o m m a n d <' d o n t h <' h i II , t o deta ch one (1{' th(.) ~·ompanics und<•r his <·ommand to c·ommc•n<' , th' work. Tl<' furnished, on th<' 16th, a company of' artill<·ry (s<·am<·n from th r ongr<'~s,) for th' day's wot k, which lh<'y pnform 'd b r a v , I y , a n d g a v · m <' g rc · a t h o p <' s o f' s u ( · c <' s s . Jantwry l , lD, and 20.- l rece iv ed spec·ia l orclr rs whi<"h s<•par at t> d rn e from t h <.: eo m man d, and tlH' p arty of top o graph i c a.l <' 11 g tn e n s: t h a t J tad h <' <.' n s o I o n g u n d ' r m y o r d <. • r s . 'I'll, b a ttl<' s of the G t h D c C' c m be r, and t h <.' 8th an d 9 t lt J n n u a r y, had for<•ver broken the M<.·xican authority in 'alifornia, and th<·y were daily c~m ing in, in hHgc partirs, to :uc for pea('('' an1l t'"rry m o v · i n d i c a t c d a . i n c e r d c s i r o n t h e p a r t o f l h (' m o r e r r s p <' ( · t a b I e p o r t i on of t h c ., a I i f o r n i an s to y i e I d w it h o u t f u rt h r . t rug g I <' to the Unit d 'tales authoritie.; yet small parties of th<• more drsp<•rctle and revengeful hung about lh' moun tains and roads; n•fusing or h<.>:,itating to yi ld olH.•di nc ' to th •ir leaders, who no\ , with gr 'at unanimity, determined to lay down th<'ir arms. General l,'l or ·s, with a sm a II force, was kn own to h a v • tal en the road to SoNora, and it was b('li?ved h was on his way to that provinc ·~n ever to return to California. Laving General Kearny at an Juan de Capristano, on his r'turn to .. an Diego, J tool thre m n and push 'd on for the l alt<'r place. llaJting late in the evening at th<' deserted ln dian ran eh<'r i a o r San t a M a r gar i l a , w · b r o k ' o p n o n c o f tlt c J n d i a n huts, a 11< l got some rorn an(l pumpkins for our animal'. Whrn night ramc on, the number of ins cts about the hut , and th' intolerable noise made by th wolves, k<'pl us from sle 'P· Th • moon shon brightly, and about ten at night we addled up to pursn our journc•y. In t h i s d etc rIll i n at i 0 n w e w () r (' e 0 n fi r m ( d h y t b e u n ('X p 1 a i n a movement of s •v ral small partieH of mount 'd Ua.liforniclns that rccollnoitr •d our catnl)' a cirnt~nslnne<' which a fTord '(l additional proof that some of the·' Ci1lifornianH wrre y ·tin arms, and led us very .r<•a:on tbly to tlH' conclusion that our on ly s<}fdy w:1s in changmg our camp. W• reac·hcd the mission of San Lu is Hc·y, ~nd round. not a hum:tn b ing . tirring The immcn:e pile of buildwg., tllutnlllal<•<l by the pal col d rays of thr moon, stood ont in bold reltcf on th<' dim horizon· a rnonurnrnl of tlw zeal of the inclt>fali~ ahle prif'sts, by whom it was built. Now unt<·nHnl d and d<•serted, 1t offerc·d no r<'sling place• forth' w<'ary tlnd hun(Try, and w' rod • on, determined to halt at the fir ·t place where g~·ass should be in a h u n d an <'e . The roa1l hn divi<les into two branches; one leads to tlH• w<'st, by thr rauC'lt ria of San Barnardo, the other dire ctly to ~an Di(•go, over .th high lands, running near ly parall·l to the sea roast. 'l'h fir. t ts that by which W<' luul marrht'd on th' Pueblo d' los A ngclt> s, f(•aring that thr hills on th sea coa. t road would embarrass the mov<:m<·nt of our artillrry and ox carts. ~ 1 t h o u ~ a g u i d <' , w c had g rea t d i fTi c u ll y in s l r i k i n g a t n i g h t t h e tratl leadurg over the mountains; but consulting the star · for our cours ·, and relying upon th • :agacily of my lhre, m •n, who had |