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Show 286 PERSONAL ADVENTURES Forming a pretty background to this little group, stood a cluster of stately pines and palm-trees; while in front lay a gently undulating and fertile plain, dotted with cattle, and surrounded with charming hills, richly clothed with vegetation. I 'vas so enchanted 'vith the romantic beauty of the spot, that I could not. refrain from giving expression to my feelings; but I-Ialliday, who was of that dull and unin1aginative mould so simply but naturally described by 'Vords,vorth- "Nature ne'er could find the way Into the heart of Peter Bell ; In vain, through every changeful year, Did Nature lead him as before ; A primrose by a river's brim A yellow primrose was to him, And it was nothing more"- killed all my enthusiasn1 by the remark, that " it was very pretty, but that a good beefsteak, srnothered in onions, would add in1mensely to the effect." These Indians were, however, n1iserably poor; and all we could obtain fron1 them was a little_ pinoli, IN CALIFORNIA. 287 which, being put into a cup of water, fonned a most grateful anu refreshing beverage. The next stage to Livermore's farrn was exceedingly tedious. We were lucky enouO'b 0 ' however, to reach it before night ; and we en-camped within a mile of the house, close to the wooden fence which encloses the ground where the horses are allowed to run. The owner of this farm had settled early in the country, and had obtained possession of immense tracts of land, which, however, as far as I could j ndge, at this season of the year, were more remarkable for quantity than quality. Obtaining permission to picket our horses inside the fence, ·we set to work to collect as much grass and straw as possible for them. This, however, proved to be anything but an easy task, and our poor animals made but a sorry meal of it. We fared better, my companion having succeeded in purchasing son1e beef at the house. He had some difficulty, at first, in obtaining it, owing, as he presumed, to the annoyances to which the family were subjected by the visits of the |