| OCR Text |
Show [ 174 J 252 We made, on the 7th, a har~l march in a cold chilly rain from rnorning until night-thew ather so th~ck that we trave ll ed hy ,.c,or~pa ·s. This was a traverse from the San Joaqllln to the waters of the I ul \' lakes, and our road was over a very .level prai ri <' rountry. We saw woh:es frcquen,ly during the dny, prowlmg about after tl~c young antelope, whteh cannot run very fast. These were numerous dunng the day, and two were caught by the pPople. . . . Late in the afLcri:).Oon we dt='eovered ttmber, whtch was found to be aroves of oak trees on a rlry arroyo. The rain, which had f~dlcn in fre. qucnt showers, youred down in a storm at sunset, ~v~th a str:ong wind, which swept ofl the cl~uds and left a cle:1r . ky. HHhng on tnrough the timb(lr, about dark we found abundant water tn small pond , 20 to 30 yards in diameter, with clear deep water and s~nd y beds, b<~rdercd with bog rushes (j unctts ~ffasus,) and a .tall .rush .( sctrpns la.cuslr'ls) 12 feet high, ancl stu rounded near the margtn w1th wtllow trees In bloom; amon~ them one which re embled sali."C myricoirles. The oak of the gron'!s was the same already wentioned, with small leaves, in form like those of the white oak, and forming, with the evergreen oak, the characteristic trees of the valley. April 3.-After a ride of two miles throu()·h brush and open groves, we reached a large stream, called the River of the Lake, resembling in size the San Joaquin, and being about 100 yards broad. This is the principal trib· utary to the Tule lakes, which collect :dl the wJter in the upper p:ut of the valley. ~Vhile we were sea ·ching for a ford, some Indians af>peared on the opposite bank, and, having discovered that we were not Spanish sol· dier. ,. bowed us the way to a good ford several miles above. The Indians of the Sierra make frequ ent descents upon the settlements west of the Coast Range, which they keep constantly swept of horses ; among them are many who arc called Christ ian Indians, being refugee6 from Spanish missions. evcral of these incursions occurre1l while we were at Helvetia. Occasionally parties of soldiers follow them across the Coast Hange, but never enter the . icrra. On the opposite side we found some f0rty or fifty IndianR, who had come to meet us from the village below. We made them some small presents, and invited them to accompany us to our encampment, which, after about three miles through line oak groves, we mado on the river. We made a fort, principally on account of onr animals. The Indians brought otter skins, and several kinds of fish, and bread made of acorns, to trade. Among them were several who had come to live amonO' these lndians when the missions were broken up, ancl who spoke Spanish fluently. They ~n~or~ed us that they were called by the Sp:1niards 'mansitos, (tame,) in d1st111ctJOn from the wilder tribes of the mountains. They, however, think themselves \'cry insecnre, not knowing at what unforeseen moment the sins of the ~alter. may be visited on them. They are dark-skinned, but handsome and Jnte lh.geut Indians, and live principally on acorns and the roots of the tule, of whtch also their huts are made. By observation, the latitude of the encampment is 36° 24 ' 50", and ion· gitude 1 U)0 41' 40". . April 9.-For several mil s we had very bad tr:nreJiing over. what 15 calle~l rot! en ground, in which the horsrs were fn.,qucntly up to the1r knees. Ma.km~ towards a line of timber, we follnd a small fordable streant, bey~nd Which the country improved, and the gra s became excellent; and, crosswg 2 53 [ 174 ] a number of dry and timbered arroyos, we travelled uniillate tl . oak groves, and encamped amo11g a ollection of strca ~1',0 1 1 ug 1 open · 1 , d ·11 ms. tese were runlllll~ among rus tes .lll WI ows; and as usu") fl c)cl· f II II . ._ , . , I , , . r ' u ' \.S 0 J a<• \ Jtrde announc.cd our .1pproa cn to w,tfcr. \\ e bave here 'l J>r>r·oacl 1 · nearer to t1I e <.. l5ter.n s·' . I . I . lC( COilSIC 1c rably ICJll, w1rc 1 shows very ,1hinly _,t'll, d . f I · 1 1 r ~ , .., 1 co ver r With ma.scs o snow, w HC 1 yesten ay and to-day h,1s also al>I)earcd . b .1. on the Coast Ran~c. a unu.mt April 10.-To-day. we ma~le anoth er long journey of about fort · th1ough a country uruntercsttng and llat, with V<'ry little g . . _, ~ miles, ') . I . t I I I ra s .wu .1 s·tndy SOl, tn W llC:tl SCVCI<l )l'<lllC lCS We Cl'O!:i ed had lost thci t 1 ' evening the face of the country becJmc· hilly. and tur 1 1 1 • 1.wa .e' 1 ': 11 .t 1 he up lo\varc1 s t I1 e mountam· s, we f·o und a t;ood enca'm 'p me' nt ll b .l C \\' Ill I es 0 11 . . t bidden among the hi il , and handsomely timucred }>ri nc 1 • ~llfi>I c tyl ' t 1 rcarn cottonwoocJ s , () )()!Jtt l. us, <I 1. ll'< : 1 1·1 1 g 1·~ ·om any in Mi,c haux':;P ·~' Yl r":"1 l.)t l a, ,rn~r e seed vessels ol 11Hs trre were now Just about blll stincr. y 1 he Scverar lnuians car11e down the r ivcr to sec us in d~e eve · . h J . I . ntn;;. we "ave t em. supper, a nc ca ullon ec them a gc.unst stealing our hor cs . wl i . 1 h promrsed not to attempt. ' 1 c l they April 11.-A broad frail nlong the ri\'er J1erc take ot1t ,, . tl 1 'II "J3 ucn cann·n o, " ( goo d roa<), ) ::u.d one of the Indi · urnOnp, lC 11 s 1ns of ,, l ~ t.n qut.r e d I I I . . . • , " )Om we lad ·r a >Out t 1e pa s. ; an(, followJn£! 1t aecordirwly i' "Otld t 1 1 11 1 · 1 1 ._, C'> ' L'" uc ec us >c ·tu- tJtr ytuoug1 a verybro<en country by an cxc<..llcut H '. ·1· l 1 ' wise, we should have found extr eu~ely l><.H.l T·d·en "r" ')' t\\ lllc 1 1 ' ot 1 1c 1 r- . I d . . . L ... ..:J>ara<·y,tlc lil~ present smoot J an graceful outl111e~, but to •rether Bl ·tl{e •· 1 t 11 . · d I I f . ' r-- , • u .u ' <) ve 1 ng grou11 • nstcac o grass, the \-\-hole face nf the count1·y 1 ' .:- ·l . 1 W·l l1l ero d t·m n · · .., c ose y covered c1c·tllanum, here only h\o or three inches j 11 · , 11 It, 1 · an d br auty van·e (J 1•1 1 a rema rkabl e tnan ne r with the loc ·\lt'ty b · ::; l e I tr 1J t 1 • • 0 I I . · . ' ,t)C;tn 11·,u.utany ow p nccs '" luch we pa ssed dur111 cr the day around st r·c·11 , 1 · t 1 I ( . . t" ' · ~ I 18 ,tilt SJHlnP·g wf o a··nuc· t. u. ce cet Jn hc i'L.!' :h t. The co.u ntr)' had tr O'"' -1..,5u 111 ~. <.J . 1 ~:~' n <.., ~ ,l (.' l ~lructer o. a11 ll), nn~ the luxuna11t green ol tl1cse J.ittlc strca1118, wood(•d witln wlllo,.,, oak, o.I .ycamorc, lool·ed very rcfresiHng among t1 1e sandy hills l.n the cvcr~rn~ we encaruped nn a farge crrek, with abundant \\"lt"r • ][ noticed here 1n bloom, for the first time si nce I 'lVillO' the A ·1 . . ' - • · the mirabili ·Jalapa. ' o 1 {<lll Sat~ waters, /lpri~ 1 2.-~'\long our road to-d_ay the country was alto n·ether S.lrHJ d ~cfc1rat1~n lllrag.er. f)phcd.'·a occ1.dentalis, which we had fir ·t S<·en [,~ ~~0 e g lboJhood oJ the Pyramid bke, made its appearance IH;re 'lnd · tl cloulse of the day bcr·arnc very <.~uundant, and in larp·e blJSlles' • '1' Jn tle t lC clos (' tf f !:) • uwan S f . co 1C a ternoon, we rcacht'd a tolerably lar cre ri\'Cr \\hich ,1 :~ mto.a small lake at the head ol the vallf\y; it is aEout ti1i/ty-1ive e~~~VH e, ~vtt.h a stony and gravelly bccJ, and tho swift t stream we~ . 8 crosse. ~lnce lra,·ing the bay. The botton1s produced no rrn ~ u 1~ave :~.1!r~\mb~lcd with willow and cottonwood; and, after asc~rHli .. / 1y it uf~~ . ~Hies, we nwde a late cnealllpment on a little bottom \\ itl~ ~ .. t j!_rass. d n greatPr part, tbe vegetation along our road ronsi"Led r can yf rare an u n u u ·d 1 t 1 . 1 - ~ • u w o Alon , pan s, am~np: w lie l '.lla.ny were Cl.tircly new. WI . h g the bottom were tlllcket~ cons1 t1 rw of sen.'ral v .. uit ti(''"' ot· ·! . b llC ruade I . I . r 0 " ' :.; II u s. elli tica . Jete t lelr II' ·t appe.llalJcc; and arno l.g these was G~an ~ det d' (.L11~dley,) a sm:dl tree bclonbing to a ~·ery peculi,u· tw{ur 1 0 '1}., Wil,lo wan > I1 0 I(S rrcncr·tl · ( . · · .t r !:" • nppcar,wce, ~rowlllg lll f lllcketq ) ru!-cmblin~ the pl · t1. no~ .bccau~0 c.ommou nJonPi tbf\ 'itn!ams, ft ~~quer~lly su•)plyin« ace o soltx longijolw. ' c> |
