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Show 526 AU'I'OBIOGRAPRY OF ~illed num?ers of them at different times, divested entirely ~f han· except on the extremity of the nose, ears, a~d tail. They present a truly comical and extraordinary appearance. ~,his general loss of cattle deprives many of the poor emigra~ts of the means of hauling their lightened wagons, ~luch, by .the time they reach my ranch, seldom cont~In any thmg more than their family clothing and beddmg.. Frequently I have observed wagons pass my house With ~ne starveling yoke of cattle to drag them, {Lnd the family straggling on foot behind. N urn bers have l?ut up at my. ranch without a morsel of food, and Without a dollar In the world to procure any. They never were refused what they asked for at my ho . d d · use, an ' urmg the sho~t space that I have spent in the V a?ey, I have furmshed provisions and other necessarres to the numerous sufferers who have applied for them to a ver:r serious amount. Some have since paid me, but the bills of many remain unsettled. Still, although. a prudent business man would condemn the ~roceeding, I can not find it in my heart to refuse rehef to such necessities, and, if my pocket suffers a lit~ Ie, I .have my recompense in a feeling of internal satIsfactwn. My pleasant valley is thirty-five miles at its great·est .breadth. It is irrigated by two streams, with their vano~s small tributaries. These form a junction about ten miles _from my house up the valley, which, as you re~ount It, becomes the central fork of the Feather River. :il~ these streams abound with trout, some of them wmglung seven or eight pounds. In the main one there are also plenty of otter. Antelopes and deer are to be found the entire year, unless the winter is unusually severe, when they cross the mountains to • JAMES P. BECKWOURTH. 527 the eastern slope. Grizzly bears come and disappear again, without asking leave of any man. There arc wolves of every species, together with foxes, hares, rabbits, and other animals. Of the feathered tribe, we have wild geese, ducks, sage-hens, grouse, and a la~ge variety of smaller birds. Service-berries and chernes are the only kinds of fruit that grow from nature's cultivation. The growth of timber about the valley is principally pitch-pine, although there is a considerable intermixture of cedar. I have never yet sown any grain, but I have cultivated a small kitchen-garden, and raised cabbages, turnips, and radishes of great size. I have never known the snow to fall to a greater depth than three feet, and when the storms are over it dissolves very rapidly, notwithstanding the elevation is many thousand feet above the level of the Pacific. The snow clings to the mountain peaks that overlook the valley to the eastward the year round, and as it is continually melting and feeding the streams, it keeps the water icy cold all the summer through. About a mile and a half distant from my house there is a large sulphur spring, and on the eastern slope, in the desert, there are copious hot springs, supplying the traveler with boiling water for his coffee without the cost of fuel. r~rhe Truchy rises on the summit of the Sierra N evada, opposite the head-waters of the Yuba, and ru~s in an easterly direction until it loses itself in P~ram1~ Lake, about fifty miles east of this valley. This lake is a great natural curiosity, as it receives not alone the waters of the Truchy, but numerous other streams, and has no visible outlet ; its surcharge of water probably filtering into the earth, like St. Mar.(s River, an~ some others I have met with. There IS no place In the |