CHAPTER VIII.

DESCRIPTION OF SOME OF THE CITIES AND TOWNS OF CALIFORNIA, BEFORE AND AFTER THE DISCOVERY OF THE GOLD MINES.

At the time of the discovery of the existence of gold in the region of the Sacramento, San Francisco was a very inconsiderable town. As soon as the news of the discovery was spread among its inhabitants, it became almost deserted. Indeed, at one time, there was only seven male inhabitants left in the town. The site of the present city of San Francisco was not then occupied by more than fifty houses in all. These were occupied by a few foreign merchants and some native Californians. The houses were rudely constructed, the principal materials being adobés, or unburnt bricks. They were generally one story high, and most of them were erected near the beach; while at the rear of the "town," was a sandy plain terminated by a range of hills. But as soon as the news of the gold discovery reached the United States, and other countries, companies for mining purposes were immediately formed, and emigrants soon crowded every route to the "Land of Promise." Then San Francisco began to be the great receptacle of the emigrants and the merchandise of various kinds necessary for their maintenance. The following is a very complete picture of the city after the spreading of the gold news, and the flood of emigration had commenced.

"Numberless vessels, mostly from the United States, filled the bay, in front of San Francisco, many of them being deserted by their crews, and unable to procure others to take their places. On landing, I had to clamber up a steep hill, on the top of which, and opposite to where I stood, was a large wooden house, two stories high, and scarcely half finished. In the rear of this, rose another and a steeper hill, whose slopes were covered with a multiplicity of tents. To my right, ran a sort of steep, or precipice, defended by sundry pieces of cannon, which commanded the entrance to the harbor. I next came to the 'Point,' and, crossing it, found myself within the town.

"The first objects that attracted my notice were several canvas houses, measuring from ten to forty feet square, some being grog-shops, others eating establishments, and the larger set apart as warehouses, or places of storage. The proprietors of the latter were making enormous sums by the accommodation their tents afforded to the hundreds of travellers who were arriving every day from different parts, and who, being extremely embarrassed as to what they should do with their luggage, were heartily glad to find any safe place to store it in, and content to pay for the convenience.

"The spectacle which the beach presented from a convenient opening, whence I could comprise the whole at a glance, was singularly interesting and curious. A crowd of individuals, in motley garb, and of every variety of race, might be seen pressing eagerly upward towards the town, jostling and pushing one another, in their anxiety to be first, yet looking eagerly about them, as if to familiarize themselves at once with the country of their adoption. Here were dandies from the United States and from France, picking their steps mincingly, as they strove to keep pace with the sturdy fellows who carried their luggage; their beaver hats, fashionable frock-coats, irreproachable and well-strapped pantaloons, exciting the derisive remarks of the spectators, the majority of them 'old Californians,' whose rough labor at the 'diggins' had taught them to estimate such niaiseries at their proper value. By their side stalked the stately and dignified Spaniard, covered with his broad-brimmed, low-crowned sombrero, and gracefully enveloped in his ample serapa, set off by a bright scarlet sash. He turns neither to the right nor to the left, nor heeds the crowd about him, but keeps on the even tenor of his way—though even he has occasionally to jump for it—presenting, in his demeanor and costume, a striking contrast to the more bustling activity of the Yankees, who are elbowing every one, in their anxiety to go a-head. A lot of shopboys, too—mere lads, as spruce and neatly attired as though they had just stepped out of some fashionable emporium, mingle with the rest, and, as they enter the town, strike up the popular parody—

And presently, their brother-adventurers, excited by hopes of the wildest kind, join vociferously in chorus, in the exuberance of their joy.

"A group of Englishmen, muscular in form, and honest in feature, are chaffering with the keen-witted Yankee porters for the carriage of their luggage. There is an air of dogged resolution about them, that plainly indicates they will not submit to what they evidently consider an imposition. Such a sum for so slender a service! Well, then, they can carry their baggage themselves: so they will; and, quickly shouldering it, some depart in the track of the rest, whilst two or three remain behind, to watch what is left, until their friends return. They are manifestly well known to one another, and seem to be almost intimate; the voyage has made them friends.

"Here come a number of Chilians and Peruvians, and a goodly number of natives from the Sandwich Islands. A couple of Irishmen, too! I know them by their vivacity, and by the odd trick they have of getting into every body's way; to say nothing of their broad, merry faces. Their property is in common, it seems; for they have only one small pack between them.

"Here come ten or a dozen plainly but comfortably dressed mechanics; hard-working men they seem, and just the sort of persons to make their way in a country where the artisan occupies his proper position, and where honest toil—and dishonest, too, sometimes—is almost certain to reap a harvest. Far differently will you fare, and far preferable, too, will be your lot, in regions where privation is the rule, to that of many amongst your numerous fellow-travellers, unaccustomed as they are to laborious occupations—with frames uninured to fatigue, and constitutions unhabituated to scanty fare, to exposure to heat and cold, and wet and sudden changes! Whilst you are succeeding in your object, they will grow wearied, disappointed, and home-sick, and long to be back again on the theatre of their former struggles.

"The human stream ceases not to flow from the vessels in the harbor; no sooner is one boat-load disposed of than another arrives, and so on, until the town is gorged with new-comers, who, after a few days' sojourn, to recruit their strength, after the fatigues of a long and irksome voyage, depart, and are seen no more for months; many, perhaps, never to return. Very few of this vast multitude deserve the epithet of poor. To get here at all requires money; and to maintain one's self after getting here, the emigrant must have some little means.

"The majority of the emigrants are men occupying a respectable station in society; some are even distinguished in their calling; but the eager desire of making a fortune in a hurry has induced them to throw up good employments and comfortable homes; to leave friends, relatives, connexions, wife, children, and familiar associations, to embark their strength, intelligence, and activity, in this venture. All is bustle where they have landed: boats going to and fro; rafts slowly discharging their cumbrous loads; porters anxiously and interestedly civil; all excited; all bent on gain; ships innumerable in the bay; mountains around; a clear, blue sky above; and the bright waters dancing in the sun, until they touch the horizon in the distance, blending their brightness with his golden track.

"I walked on until I came up to a group of men, who, like myself, were looking on the busy scene before us with no small degree of interest. I recognized amongst them two of the volunteers, with whom I forthwith claimed acquaintance. The whole party had come from the mines, as was easily to be seen from their appearance, which was something the worse for wear, their countenances being weather-beaten and bronzed by exposure; whilst their attire, consisting of buckskin coats, leather leggings, and broad-brimmed hats, denoted the sort of labor in which they had been recently engaged. I learned from them, in the course of a subsequent conversation, that they had all of them been successful at the 'diggings.' One of the number had made, or 'picked,' two thousand dollars, and the rest, from that to nine thousand dollars each, within the space of a few months. With this, however, they were far from satisfied, most of them being determined to realize a large fortune before they quitted the country; for not one of them seemed to have the remotest intention of settling.

"The party had come down from the mines to make purchases, and to enjoy a little recreation. They were admirable specimens of their class—hardy in appearance and rough in demeanor; but shrewd, withal, and toil-enduring. For the moment, their conversation turned upon the prospects of the newly-landed emigrants—for I should have stated that there were one or two arrivals in the harbor—and they were unsparing of their remarks upon such of the new comers as by their dress, or any physical peculiarity, offered a fair target for their witticisms, which were not less pointed than coarse.

"The discovery of the gold mines, has done at once for San Francisco what it was reasonable to anticipate time only could have effected; and its progress in importance has far outstripped the most sanguine expectations which could be based upon any hypothesis hazarded on the strength of its admirable position and facilities for trade. Nevertheless, its growth seems unnatural; and, looking at it as I saw it then, it left on my mind the impression of instability, so marvellous was it to gaze upon a city of tents, wood, and canvas, starting up thus suddenly, forming but a halting-place to the thousands who visited it; having for citizens a large majority of gamblers and speculators; and presenting of civilization but the rudest outline, and some of its worst vices. It was impossible, indeed, for an observer to contemplate San Francisco, at this particular period of its history, and not to feel that every thing about it savored of transition. A storm or a fire must have destroyed the whole in a few hours; for every house, shed, or tent, had manifestly been constructed merely to serve the end of the actual occupier; they were all adapted for trading, but not a convenience or a comfort appertained to them, to indicate a desire or an intention of settlement. Every day brought new-comers, and added to the number of ephemeral structures which crowded the hill-sides. Mechanics of every description of calling were at work, earnestly, busily, and cheerfully; and, whichever way I turned, there was bustle and activity; yet, withal, I felt that such a state of things was unsound, because resting on what was essentially speculative, and I doubted not but a great change must come before the city could be regarded as substantially advancing. Comprised at a glance, it presented no other appearance save that of a confused crowd of tenements, of every variety of construction; some high, some low, perched upon the steep hills, or buried in the deep valleys—but still tents and canvas every where and any where, their numbers defying calculation, their structure and position all analysis. There existed neither wells nor ponds within a very considerable distance; and what struck me as most singular, being aware that the Spaniards had a mission here, there was no sign of a church. I subsequently ascertained that the site of the Mission of Dolores, about five miles distant, had been preferred by the Spaniards, and that divine service was performed there still.

"As I proceeded along the road leading into the principal street of the city, I was uncomfortably reminded that it would soon become necessary for me to select a place where I could procure refreshment; and in connexion with this necessity, arose another consideration no less important, namely, where I should lodge? There was no other mode of solving the difficulty, save by an exploration of the localities; accordingly, I kept these objects in view, whilst I also gratified my curiosity by continuing my perambulations.

"In this same road, but nearer to the entrance of the main street than I should say was, under any circumstances, altogether pleasant, stood the correl of the Washington Market, being a spacious area of ground, inclosed with stakes, over which were stretched raw hides. Owing to the large number of cattle slaughtered here for the use of the inhabitants, the odor from this place was insufferable, and I quickened my pace until my olfactory organs became sensible of a purer atmosphere.

"I turned into the principal street, and soon came up to the market itself, which is a wooden house, about thirty feet square, kept by an American. To my right, as I advanced, were some stores and hotels, and a confectioner's shop of remarkably neat and clean appearance: these were all one story, wooden buildings. One of the hotels was appropriately designated as 'The Colonnade.' It was kept by a volunteer named Huxley, and differed from every similar establishment in the town, inasmuch as the proprietor allowed neither gambling nor drunkenness on his premises. To this the 'Gotham Saloon,' a little further on, offered a perfect contrast, for here there were several monté rooms and a large bowling-alley, where persons who had a taste for the latter amusement might indulge in their favorite pastime for a dollar a game. This saloon was likewise kept by two volunteers, as was also the confectioner's by a fourth; so that three of the most noted houses in the town were rented by men, who, a few months before, scarcely possessed any thing save their enterprise and their industry, but who were now on the high road to opulence. The more credit was due to them, and others of their brethren whom fortune had similarly favored, because, at first, they had deep-rooted prejudices to encounter, which prudence and perseverance only could have enabled them to overcome.

"I came next to the Square, or 'Plaza,' on one side of which, and fronting it, stood the 'Miner's Bank,' established by a Mr. Wright, a keen speculator, who had secured possession of a large extent of landed property, which he was turning to the very best account. On the left of the Plaza, I noticed a spacious-looking wooden building, two stories high, called the 'Parker House;' but the handsome piazza in front caused me to hesitate on the threshold; for I apprehended—and not without reason—that, even in California, appearances must be paid for; as, therefore, my purse was not overstocked, I prudently sought a more modest establishment.

"I passed another hotel, similar to this one, but not quite so large, and came presently to a low wooden house, of most unattractive and unprepossessing exterior, which was dignified by the name of the 'Café Français.' As this seemed likely to suit my present convenience, and to promise a scale of prices on a par with its external appearance, I entered boldly, and seated myself at the dining-table. I noticed, as I went in, that, notwithstanding the poverty without, there was abundance within; the counter being literally overcharged with French pastry, a variety of ingenious culinary preparations, and some foreign liquors.

"After I had finished my repast, consisting of a beef-steak, two eggs, and a couple of cups of coffee, I prepared to depart. I specify the items of which my repast was made up, because of the price I paid for them—namely, two dollars and a half. I was informed, on hazarding an observation respecting the amount, that the charges were excessively moderate, any thing in the shape of a dinner being usually charged one dollar and fifty cents; half a dollar each for the eggs, which were extras, was only a reasonable price for such luxuries, as they frequently sold for double. I considered the information thus obtained to be cheap, of its kind, and went away with a mental reservation not to eat any more eggs in California, unless they were of another description than the golden ones.

"As I repassed the 'Parker House,' the hotel, par excellence, of San Francisco, I went in, knowing that, like all similar establishments, there were the usual amusements going on within.

"This is not only the largest, but the handsomest building in San Francisco; and, having been constructed at enormous expense, and entirely on speculation, a concurrence of fortunate circumstances alone, such as had followed upon the discovery of the gold mines, could have insured its prosperity. It was now one of the most frequented, fashionable, and firmly established hotels in the country; and, in so far as it presented a model to the builders and settlers in the town, was a signal illustration of the shrewdness and enterprise of the Yankee character, and a standing credit to the projectors and proprietors.

"It is built entirely of wood, and contains two very spacious principal rooms; the one a dining-room, the other set apart for billiards. Besides these, there are three saloons of lesser dimensions, especially devoted to gambling, and two well supplied bars—one below, to the right of the entry, the other in the billiard-room. The portion of the hotel that is not set apart for the usual offices and conveniences is divided off into innumerable chambers, which are occupied by the superior classes of emigrants—lawyers, doctors, money-brokers, cum multis aliis.

"The saloon contains two very handsome billiard-tables, which are constantly occupied by players, chiefly Americans, some of them of first-rate excellence. The charge was a dollar per game of a hundred, and they were no sooner vacated by one party than another came in.

"The establishment contained nine gambling-tables, which were crowded day and night, by the citizens and the miners; many of the latter staking very large sums upon the turn of a card. The stakes, however, varied from twenty-five cents to five thousand dollars; and the excitement of some of the losers was frequently fearful to contemplate. Some who gained largely prudently withdrew; and I was informed that, a few days previously to my arrival, a new-comer from the States, who was bound for the mines, having come into the saloon, and tried his fortune at the monte tables, luckily made twenty thousand dollars, with which he returned home, by the steamer, two days afterwards.

"The 'Golden Eagle,' (l'Aguila d'Oro) is another gambling establishment, situated in one of the streets leading into the Plaza. It is a canvas house, about fifty feet square, fitted up with the requisites for play, and let out by the proprietor at the rate of fifteen hundred dollars a month. Every available spot around the tables was crowded to inconvenience by persons who were engaged deeply in the game, the majority standing up and watching the chances with countenances betokening the greatest excitement.

"I now proceeded to the City Hotel, a large but somewhat antiquated building, constructed of adobé, after the Spanish fashion, but hybridized by American improvements. The interior was even more insufferable than the El Dorado, in respect of the boisterousness of its frequenters. In the first room that I entered were five gambling-tables, doing a 'smashing business'—a term employed, somewhat in contradiction to its import, to denote prosperity. The majority of the players were Americans and other foreigners, intermixed with a goodly number of Spaniards of the lowest order. There was the same excitement, the same recklessness, and the same trickery here, as at the other gambling saloons, only infinitely more noise and smoke, and swearing and inebriety.

"Here I met with another of the volunteers, who proposing a walk, we went out together, and proceeded to the Plaza. I found a good many old acquaintances set up in business at this spot; one, who had been a captain, had recently turned money-broker, and now kept an office for the exchange of coin and gold-dust, having entered into partnership with a highly respectable and agreeable individual, of active business habits, who promised to prove a great acquisition to the concern.

"We soon reached a low, long, adobé building, situated at the upper side of the square, and which my companion told me was the Custom House. To the right of the Plaza stood the Saint Charles's Hotel, a wooden edifice covered in with canvas, and the Peytona House, an establishment of a similar description, in both of which we did not fail to find the usual games carried on.

"The streets leading down to the water-side contain comparatively few hotels or eating-houses, they being chiefly wood and canvas trading-stores. I observed amongst them several newly opened auction and commission-rooms, where goods were being put up, recommended and knocked down in true Yankee style. An immense number of wooden frame-houses in course of erection met our view in every direction; and upon remarking that many of them appeared to have been purposely left incomplete, I ascertained that this arose from the extreme difficulty of procuring lumber, which, on account of its scarcity, occasionally fetched an incredibly high price. A good deal of it is brought from Oregon, and some from South America. Many of the larger houses, but far inferior, notwithstanding, to such of the same kind as could easily be procured in New York at a rental of from 300 to 400 dollars a-year, cost here at least 10,000 dollars to build them, the lots on which they were erected being valued at sums varying from 30,000 to 50,000 dollars, according to the locality. Many spots of ground, just large enough for a small trading-house or a tent to stand upon, let at from 1200 to 2000 dollars.

"Amongst the various emigrants who daily flocked into the city—for each day brought its fresh arrivals—were numerous Chinese, and a very considerable number of Frenchmen, from the Sandwich Islands and from South America. The former had been consigned, with houses and merchandise, to certain Americans in San Francisco, to whom they were bound by contract, as laborers, to work at a scale of wages very far below the average paid to mechanics and others generally. The houses they brought with them from China, and which they set up where they were wanted, were infinitely superior and more substantial than those erected by the Yankees, being built chiefly of logs of wood, or scantling, from six to eight inches in thickness, placed one on the top of the other, to form the front, rear, and sides; whilst the roofs were constructed on an equally simple and ingenious plan, and were remarkable for durability.

"These Chinese had all the air of men likely to prove good citizens, being quiet, inoffensive, and particularly industrious. I once went into an eating-house, kept by one of these people, and was astonished at the neat arrangement and cleanliness of the place, the excellence of the table, and moderate charges. It was styled the 'Canton Restaurant;' and so thoroughly Chinese was it in its appointments, and in the manner of service, that one might have easily fancied one's self in the heart of the Celestial Empire. The barkeeper—though he spoke excellent English—was a Chinese, as were also the attendants. Every article that was sold, even of the most trifling kind, was set down, in Chinese characters, as it was disposed of; it being the duty of one of the waiters to attend to this department. This he did very cleverly and quickly, having a sheet of paper for the purpose, on which the article and the price were noted down in Chinese characters, by means of a long, thin brush, moistened in a solution of Indian or Chinese ink. As I had always been given to understand that these people were of dirty habits, I feel it only right to state that I was delighted with the cleanliness of this place, and am gratified to be able to bear testimony to the injustice of such a sweeping assertion.

"As for the French, they seemed entirely out of their element in this Yankee town; and this circumstance is not to be wondered at, when the climate and the habits of the people are taken into consideration, and also the strange deficiencies they must have observed in the ordinary intercourse of life between the citizens, so different from the polished address, common even amongst the peasantry in their rudest villages; to say nothing of the difficulty of carrying on business amongst a people whose language they did not understand. But their universal goal was the mines; and to the mines they went, with very few exceptions.

"Speaking of them reminds me of a 'Café Restaurant,' in San Francisco, kept by a very civil Frenchman, and situated on the way to the Point. I mention it, because I one day made here the most uncomfortable repast it had ever been my lot to sit down to. Yet this was not owing to any lack of attention on the part of the proprietor, to any inferiority in the quality of his provisions, or to any deficiency of culinary skill in their preparation; but simply to the prevalence of the pest to which I have already alluded as invading my own tent, namely, the dust. The house was built chiefly of wood, and had a canvas roof, but this was insufficient to keep out the impalpable particles with which the air was charged, and which settled upon and insinuated themselves into every article in the place. There was dust on the counter, on the shelves, on the seats, on the decanters, and in them; on the tables, in the salt, on my beef-steak, and in my coffee. There was dust on the polite landlord's cheeks, and in his amiable wife's eyes, which she was wiping with the corner of a dusty apron. I hurried my meal, and was paying my score, when I caught sight of my own face in a dusty-looking and dust-covered glass near the bar, and saw that I too had become covered with it, my entire person being literally encrusted with a coat of powder, from which I experienced considerable difficulty in cleansing myself.

"Notwithstanding all I had seen of San Francisco, there yet existed here a world apart, that I should never have dreamed of, but for my being one day called upon to act upon a jury appointed to sit in inquest over a person who had died there. This place was called the 'Happy Valley.'

"Previously to our repairing thither, we attended at the court-house, to take the usual oath. Proceeding then through the lower part of the town, we reached the beach, along which, by the water-side, we walked for a distance of three miles—up to our ancles in mud and sand—until we came to a spot where there were innumerable tents pitched, of all sizes, forms, and descriptions, forming an irregular line stretching along the shore for about two miles.

"The ground was, of course, low, damp, and muddy; and the most unmistakeable evidences of discomfort, misery, and sickness, met our view on every side, for the locality was one of the unwholesomest in the vicinity of the town. Yet here, to avoid the payment of enormous ground-rents, and at the same time to combine the advantage of cheap living, were encamped the major portion of the most recently arrived emigrants, and, amongst the rest, those of the ship Brooklyn, on one of the passengers of which the inquest was about to be held.

"This, then, was the 'Happy Valley;' a term no doubt applied to it in derision, taking into consideration the squalor, the discomfort, the filth, the misery, and the distress that were rife there.

"I am satisfied that much of the crime and lawlessness that is prevalent in California—particularly in towns like San Francisco, where the ruder sex are congregated exclusively and in large multitudes—is attributable to the want of the humanizing presence of women. In San Francisco there were about ten thousand males, and scarcely a hundred females; for, although in many parts of California the latter outnumber the former, the national prejudice against color was too strong for legitimate amalgamation to take place."

Such was San Francisco soon after the discovery of the riches of the Sacramento region. From an insignificant settlement, sometimes the resort of whaling-vessels, and of a few traders, it was quickly transferred into a city, with an extensive and constantly increasing commerce. In its streets and squares, erected where, just before, was a desert plain, people of almost every nation were seen busily engaged in traffic, or preparing for departure to the gold region. It seemed the work of the enchanter.

Although, like San Francisco, Monterey was almost deserted by its inhabitants upon the receipt of information of the gold discovery, it soon began to give signs of improvement. The bay, upon the shore of which the town is located, is more exposed to the swell of the sea, and to the north-west storms, than the Bay of San Francisco, and therefore the harbor is inferior. Yet Monterey received a considerable share of the tide of emigration. Those who stopped there were generally persons who intended to make a permanent settlement, and engage in mercantile pursuits; and, therefore, though the increase of the town was not so rapid as that of San Francisco, it carried with it more denotements of stability.

The town is situated on a short bend near the entrance of the bay, upon its southern side. The point of land which partly protects its harbor from the sea is called Point Pinos. A very neat and pretty appearance is presented by the houses of the native Californians, which are generally constructed of adobés and white-plastered. Those of the Americans are easily distinguished by their being built of logs and planks, and presenting a more substantial, but rougher appearance. The town is surrounded by hills, covered with lofty pine trees. Upon a height which overlooks the town and harbor, a fort was built by the Americans during the war with Mexico, and a military force continued there till after the treaty of peace.

The country in the neighborhood of Monterey is fertile, and yields ample reward to the agriculturist. There would, therefore, be no lack of supplies of provisions, but for the indolence of the Californians, owning the different ranches in the surrounding country. From this cause, great scarcity of provisions of all kinds is often the result. Notwithstanding the additions made by Yankee enterprise and innovation, the general manners and customs of the inhabitants of Monterey retain all their old Spanish character; and some of the customs of the natives, particularly their amusements, are heartily joined in by the more susceptible of the new-comers. The fandango and the serenade with the guitar, still hold their sway as freely and as undisturbed as in old Spain. The winters are severely felt here. The rain causes torrents of water to pour down from the hills in the rear of the town, deluging the principal streets, and rendering their passage almost impossible. During this period, the only resort of the inhabitants for passing away the time is the vice of gambling, in which they early become adepts. This gambling propensity, noticed among the Californians, induced a considerable number of the initiated to emigrate from the United States, and Monterey received a goodly proportion of them. Such an increase of the population, however, could not be considered desirable. Upon the whole, though in a less degree, the effect of the golden attractions of California could be seen at Monterey as at San Francisco. Though it did not spring at once from a small settlement to a large city, it was considerably improved, and in 1849, it numbered more than a thousand inhabitants.

A short distance south of Monterey, is the town of Santa Barbara. Its situation is one of the most beautiful in California. It is built upon a plain ten miles in extent. In front is a broad bay, having a smooth beach of nearly thirty miles in extent. On the right, towards the water, is a lofty eminence rising nearly a thousand feet. Directly back of the town is a range of almost impassable hills, running in a diagonal direction. There is no harbor in the bay, and vessels are obliged to anchor in an open roadstead; and when the south-east winds prevail, they are in constant peril.

The progress of the town was not much affected by the gold mania. But though it offers no attractions for mercantile or gold digging purposes, it has others which will, no doubt, make it a favorite place of residence. In 1849, it contained about one hundred and fifty houses, built of adobés, and all one story in height. The town is celebrated for being the residence of the aristocracy of California, and for its beautiful women. Its inhabitants are principally rancheros, who visit their ranches two or three times in a year to see to the marking and killing of their cattle, and then spend the remainder of the year in the town, enjoying life as much as possible. Indolence is the general vice. A horse to ride, plenty to eat, and cigaros to smoke constitute their summum bonum. Santa Barbara is more celebrated for its fandangos than any other town on the coast. These are open to all comers, and constitute the general pastime of an evening. The climate is mild and spring-like, and, independent of the attractions in the town, the surrounding country offers many of the most beautiful rides in California. About a mile in the rear of the town, at the top of a gentle slope, is the mission of Santa Barbara, with its old, white walls and cross-mounted spires. The presiding priest of California resides there, and a number of the converted Indians still remain and cultivate the surrounding soil. The mission is in a better condition than any other in the country.

Ciudad de los Angeles, or the City of the Angels, is situated a hundred and ten miles south of Santa Barbara, at the end of an immense plain, extending from the city twenty-five miles, to San Pedro, its port. This is the garden spot of California. Before the discovery of the gold mines, the City of the Angels was the largest town in the country. It contains about two thousand inhabitants, most of whom are wealthy rancheros, who dwell there to cultivate the grape. As in all the towns of California, the houses are constructed of adobé and covered with asphaltum, which is found in great quantities near the town. The northern section is laid out in streets, and is occupied by the trading citizens; the southern section is made up of gardens, vinyards and orchards, which are made extremely productive by irrigating the soil with the water of a large stream running through them. Many acres of ground are covered with vines, which, being trimmed every year, are kept about six feet in height. In the fall of the year, these vines are burdened with rich clusters of grapes; and, in addition to these, great quantities of fruit of various kinds are raised. The surrounding country abounds with game of all kinds. In the rainy season, millions of ducks and geese cover the plains between Los Angeles and San Pedro, while the neighboring hills abound with quails, deer, elk, and antelope. The vineyards produce such quantities of grapes, that many thousand barrels of wine and aguardiente—the brandy of the country—are annually manufactured. The wine is of various kinds; some of it being equal to the best produced in Europe.

The inhabitants of the City of the Angels, being generally of the wealthy class of Californians, have always strongly adhered to the institutions of Mexico. They offered the most strenuous resistance to the American forces at the time of the conquest of California, but were vanquished in two battles, and the city taken. All the customs and amusements peculiar to the Spaniards and the countries which they colonized, are here in full vogue. Music, dancing, singing, slaughtering cattle, or gambling, are the usual pastimes of the inhabitants. Yet, with these trifling occupations, attachment to the Roman Catholic church and a careful observance of its ceremonies, is characteristic of all. Upon the tolling of the bell, gaming, swearing, dancing—every thing is stopped while the prescribed prayer is muttered, and then all go on as before.

Though Los Angeles did not experience any increase of population consequent upon the flood of emigration to California, its delightful climate and its fertile soil are gradually procuring it such consideration as will doubtless lead to the filling up of the surrounding country.

San Diego is the most southern town of Upper California. It is situated on the coast, three miles north of the line separating Upper and Lower California. The harbor is inferior only to that of San Francisco. It is perfectly sheltered by land from the gales at all seasons of the year. Vessels can lie within a cable's length of the beach, there being no surf running upon it. The town is situated about three miles from the beach, and is about the same size as Santa Barbara. It is a place of far greater facilities and promise, however, than the last mentioned town. San Diego has always been the most important depot for hides, upon the coast; and there is no doubt that an extensive inland trade will be carried on between it and the towns in the interior, as the region of the Colorado and the Gila becomes settled. Since the conquest of Upper California and the discovery of the gold, the progress of the town has been rapid. From being an inconsiderable settlement sustained principally by a mission, which had early been established there, it has become a town of great commercial promise. The climate being mild and pleasant, and the surrounding country abounding in game and adapted for grazing, thus making provisions abundant, San Diego is a very desirable place of residence.

The town of San José is situated in a fertile valley, near the most southern extremity of the Bay of San Francisco. On the south of the town runs a small stream, and the place is surrounded by plains, affording fine pasturage. Being situated on the direct route from the southern ports to the gold mines, San José received a considerable stimulus from their discovery. A profitable trade was soon established, and the town improved very rapidly. It is now a town of about four thousand inhabitants, and the increase still continues rapid. In a greater degree than any of the older towns of California, it has all the evidence of a thriving and progressive place. The greater part of the buildings are constructed in a style which shows the inroads of the taste of the people from the Atlantic States. A number of Mormons settled here at an early period, and built a great many neat wooden houses and cottages, which contrast favorably with the heavy old adobés residences of the native inhabitants. Flour and saw-mills have been erected, but the scarcity of water is severely felt by their proprietors.

San José in respect to climate and general abundance of the necessaries and luxuries of life, is one of the most desirable places of residence in California. Though situated a short distance inland, and thus deprived of the facilities which contributed to the rapid growth of San Francisco, the fertile plain surrounding it, and the increase of the inland trade and travel will draw to the town and its neighborhood a thriving, business population. The old mission of San José is situated about ten miles from the town. The establishment and the grounds belonging to it are in a state of decay. The population there is about three hundred in number, most of whom are Indians, and all of them in a degraded condition.

The emigration to the gold region caused many towns to spring up, as if by magic, in its neighborhood, and on the route to it from San Francisco. These were principally the stopping places of the gold-seekers, or the seat of a trade in provisions and articles manufactured in the States and transported thither. Some of these towns have become of a size sufficient to warrant the assertion that they will soon rival the cities of the Atlantic coast of the United States. The progress of these places is aided by the enormous price of real estate in San Francisco.

One of the most promising of the new towns is called Benicia. It is situated on the Strait of Carquinez, thirty-five miles north of San Francisco. The strait forms the entrance of Suisan into Pablo Bay. The site of Benicia is a gentle slope, which, descending to the water, becomes almost a plain. Vessels of the first class can lie at anchor at its bank, and discharge their cargoes, and the harbor is safe from violent winds. The town has been made the head-quarters of the Pacific division of the United States army, and a site for a navy-yard has been selected by Commodore Jones. The marks of governmental favor show in what estimation the position of Benicia is held. The town was laid out in 1848, by Robert Semple and Thomas O. Larkin. Early in 1850, lots were selling at very high rates, and the population numbered more than a thousand persons.

Between Benicia and Sacramento city, several towns have been laid out, all in very favorable positions. The principal are—Martinez, on the southern shore of the strait of Carquinez, nearly opposite Benicia; New York of the Pacific, at the junction of the River San Joaquin with the Bay of Suisan; Suisan, on the west bank of the Sacramento, at a distance of eighty miles from San Francisco.

Next to San Francisco, Sacramento is the largest city in California. It is situated on the eastern bank of the Sacramento River, one hundred miles from San Francisco, and sixty-five from Suisan Bay. It is located on a beautiful plain, which is not elevated more than ten or twelve feet above the river at low water. This being insufficient to protect it from the rise of the waters of the river, several disastrous floods have occurred during the existence of the city. Up to this point, the river is navigable for large class steamers. Ships drawing not more than twelve feet of water may go up that far at all seasons; and, besides these commercial advantages, Sacramento is the natural trading depot for the richest portion of the mining regions.

Where the city of Sacramento now stands, at the time of the gold discovery, there stood, "solitary and alone," a small fort. This formed the nucleus, about which, at the commencement of the rush of emigration, the town soon sprang into existence. Its increase has been almost as rapid as that of San Francisco. During the rainy season of the early part of 1850, the population numbered somewhere between twenty and thirty thousand. But at that period, a considerable portion of the gold-diggers made Sacramento and the other towns in the neighborhood of the mines, their resort, to escape the severity of spending the season at the open and exposed valleys of the gold region. The city is regularly laid out, but its appearance evidences the rapidity of its erection. The greater number of the houses and stores in the neighborhood of the river are constructed of wood, while the outskirts, particularly upon the south, are occupied by the tents of the constantly-arriving overland emigrants. Before the commencement of the last rainy season, the number of these emigrants reached two or three thousand. They squatted upon the vacant lots which had been surveyed and sold to other persons. This caused a considerable agitation in the town, which continued till the disastrous flood swept both the parties off the ground, and thus left the field clear for another commencement. Sacramento is the grand receptacle of the overland emigration, and this, combined with its commercial facilities, will continue to give the city a superiority over the majority of the other places in California.

Adjoining Sacramento city, is the town of Sutter. It is situated on the highest and healthiest ground on the river. It is not, like Sacramento, subject to an annual overflow. The town was originally laid out by Captain Sutter and others; and is owned by Hon. John McDougall, Lieutenant-Governor of California, and Captain Sutter. It has a thriving business population, and its position, and the fertility of the neighboring country will soon make it a place of importance.

Stockton is to the southern portion of the gold region what Sacramento is to the northern. It is situated upon a slough, or a succession of sloughs, containing the back waters formed by the junction of the San Joaquin and Sacramento Rivers. It is about fifty miles from the mouth of the San Joaquin, and one hundred from San Francisco. The ground upon which it is situated is high and is not subject to overflow. Vessels drawing nine feet water can ascend the San Joaquin as far as Stockton, and discharge their cargoes on the bank. In the latter part of 1848, the town was laid out and a frame building erected by Charles M. Weber. In eight months from that time, it contained a population of about two thousand permanent residents, and a large number of temporary residents, on their road to the mines. Communication is with San Francisco by means of steamboats and launches, and the commerce of the town is constantly increasing.

Other towns exist—on paper—in the neighborhood of San Francisco and the gold region, and, doubtless, they will, in the course of time, become settled by a thriving, go-ahead population from the Atlantic States. Land speculation in California is as profitable a business as gold-digging—and less toilsome. Many of the shrewd ones, who early took advantage of this "tide in the affairs of men," have already reached the goal of their hopes, an independent fortune. Those who saw how things would turn out, and purchased land in the neighborhood of the region which promised to receive the principal current of the emigration to California, found themselves wealthy in the short space of a few months.

The great influx of emigrants to Upper California has brought the subject of the settlement of the peninsula into consideration. There is but little doubt that Lower California will, sooner or later, become the property of the United States, and then its settlement and progress will be rapid. The coast upon the gulf affords many excellent harbors, and the mountainous region of the interior gives abundant evidence of mineral wealth, as far as it has been explored. Several silver mines have been opened in different places, the principal of which are at San Antonio, between La Paz and Cape San Lucas. Near Loretto, the first settlement in California, extensive copper mines have been opened, and lead and iron abound in all directions. The pearl fishery of the gulf has already yielded an enormous wealth, having been prosecuted from the time of the discovery of the peninsula. The fishing season lasts from May till November, and more than a hundred vessels are yearly engaged in the business. These resources, despite the general unfitness of the country for agricultural purposes, will soon attract their full share of consideration, and cause an influx of emigrants and adventurers from the United States and other countries. Some portions of the country are susceptible of irrigation, and might thus be rendered fit for cultivation.

The principal port of Lower California is La Paz, situated near the mouth of the gulf. The bay on the shore of which the town is located, is of great extent and beauty, and possesses a large number of rich pearl oyster-beds—the pearl fishery having at one time supplied the chief article of traffic on this part of the coast. The country around the bay is elevated and picturesque, though rugged; the soil being composed principally of rock and sand, wildly and irregularly covered with the most prickly species of stunted bushes and shrubs of sunburnt hue. The town of La Paz is neatly built and presents a pretty appearance. The streets are lined with willow trees, and these meeting overhead, form a delicious shade during the heat of the day. The houses are all constructed of adobés, plastered white, and thatched with the leaves of the palm tree. The beach is lined with palms, cocoa-nut, fig and tamarind trees. La Paz was taken by the American volunteers during the war with Mexico, and considerable destruction of the orchards, gardens and houses of the town was the consequence. The harbor offers great advantages for a naval station, and such, doubtless, it will become.

San José, the most southern town of Lower California, is situated about half-way between Cape San Lucas and Cape Palmo, on a sort of desert plain, extending from the beautiful valley of San José to the ocean. It is located about three miles from the beach, and is one of the strangest creations in the shape of a town imaginable.

The heavy rains and freshets which occur in the wet season, in this region, render every elevation invaluable as a preservative against the dangers of sudden inundations; hence all the houses are built upon steeps, rocks, and hillocks, necessarily irrespective of order; so that, even in the most densely populated districts, barren hills, as yet unoccupied by dwellings, are frequently to be met with, with deep hollows in every part, converting mere visits into positive enterprises, in most instances both tedious and disagreeable. To these great natural disadvantages, the indolence of the inhabitants has added others, their common practice being to dig for adobé clay at the nearest convenient spot, namely, for the most part, opposite their own doors; thus, one would imagine that the site of the whole town had been visited and disturbed by a succession of miniature earthquakes, which, whilst they had left the houses themselves unshaken, had heaved and perched them up in the most uncomfortable positions, and in the most inaccessible places. In the very centre of the principal street, which appears to have once upon a time been level, are three or four immense clay-pits, serving as a receptacle for dead dogs, cats, bones, vegetable refuse, and, in a word, every description of rubbish and nuisance a very dirty population can convey to or discharge in them.

But a description of the town would be incomplete without adding that it is dotted about in these hollows, and in the sand-holes in the rocks, with patches of thorn, brush, and cacti, forming a singular yet refreshing contrast with the general barrenness of the region itself, the whole being surrounded by a bleak mountainous range, which increases in elevation until it blends with the clear sky, far in the distance.

The principal, indeed the only regular street in the town, is wide and long, the houses being constructed of adobés and cane, thatched with palm leaves. It is blocked up at the remoter end by the fort, which stands upon a wide foundation of rock of considerable elevation; various portions of the adobé walls connecting the crags having been pierced, so as to allow artillery to be trained through the embrasures, whilst, in other parts, there are numerous loop-holes for musketry. There are some very awkward cavities amongst these rocks, produced by digging for clay for the adobé work. The fort is flat-roofed and parapetted, having portholes for cannon; and below, in the very centre of the building, occupying about a third of its entire length, runs a thick wall, forming a crescent, well mounted with heavy guns. At the end of this crescent, between it and the front wall, is the entrance to the fort—a mere aperture, barely wide enough to allow of one man's passing in.

These defences proved to be of great advantage to a small party of Americans that landed at San José, during the war between the United States and Mexico, and were compelled to take shelter in the old quartel, or barracks. There they were surrounded by the Californians, and stood a siege of several weeks', suffering incredible hardships. The population of San José numbers about three thousand, the majority being semi-Indians, or the pure descendants of the Mexicans. There is little promise of any considerable increase in the size of the town, owing to the natural disadvantages of situation.

The other towns of Lower California are—San Antonio, in the neighborhood of an extensive silver mine, which has been worked for a long time with considerable profit; Loreto, on the gulf coast, about two hundred miles north of La Paz; San Domingo and Todos Santos, on the Pacific coast. The latter town is situated on the bay of the same name, and is the most northerly part of Lower California. The church and mission buildings at this place are the largest and most imposing structures of the kind in Lower California. The church has a handsome front and a lofty steeple. The mission is the residence of the head of the church in Lower California. There is every reason to believe, that, when the richer portions of Upper California begin to get a little crowded, the tide of emigration will be turned to the south, and the ports of the peninsula will become of great commercial importance. Then, if not before, the country will become the property of the United States, either by way of purchase, or after the manner of Texas.

CHAPTER IX.

THE FORMATION OF A STATE GOVERNMENT.

The state of things which induced the people of California to form a state government deserves to be fully set forth. Their condition was without precedent in history; and from a statement of that condition, it will be seen that the framing of a constitution and the organization of a state government was the only resource of the Californians. The representations of the report of Thomas Butler King to the government of the United States will not be contradicted, and these we insert.

"The discovery of the gold mines had attracted a very large number of citizens of the United States to that territory, who had never been accustomed to any other than American law, administered by American courts. There they found their rights of property and person subject to the uncertain, and frequently most oppressive, operation of laws written in a language they did not understand, and founded on principles, in many respects, new to them. They complained that the alcaldes, or judges, most of whom had been appointed or elected before the immigration had commenced, were not lawyers by education or profession; and, being Americans, they were, of course, unacquainted with the laws of Mexico, or the principles of the civil law on which they are founded.

"As our own laws, except for the collection of revenue, the transmission of the mails, and establishment of postoffices, had not been extended over that territory, the laws of Mexico, as they existed at the conclusion of the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, regulating the relations of the inhabitants of California with each other, necessarily remained in force;[11] yet, there was not a single volume containing those laws, as far as I know or believe, in the whole territory, except, perhaps, in the governor's office at Monterey.

"The magistrates, therefore, could not procure them, and the administration of justice was, necessarily, as unequal and fluctuating as the opinions of the judges were conflicting and variable.

"There were no fee-bills to regulate costs; and, consequently, the most cruel exactions, in many instances, were practised.

"The greatest confusion prevailed respecting titles to property, and the decision of suits involving the most important rights, and very large sums of money depended upon the dictum of the judge.

"The sale of the territory by Mexico to the United States had necessarily cut off or dissolved the laws regulating the granting or procuring titles to land; and, as our own land-laws had not been extended over it, the people were compelled to receive such titles as were offered to them, without the means of ascertaining whether they were valid or not.

"Litigation was so expensive and precarious that injustice and oppression were frequently endured, rather than resort to so uncertain a remedy.

"Towns and cities were springing into existence; many of them without charters or any legal right to organize municipal authorities, or to tax property or the citizens for the establishment of a police, the erection of prisons, or providing any of those means for the protection of life and property which are so necessary in all civil communities, and especially among a people mostly strangers to each other.

"Nearly one million and a half of dollars had been paid into the custom-house, as duties on imported goods, before our revenue laws had been extended over the country; and the people complained bitterly that they were thus heavily taxed without being provided with a government for their protection, or laws which they could understand, or allowed the right to be represented in the councils of the nation.

"While anxiously waiting the action of Congress, oppressed and embarrassed by this state of affairs, and feeling the pressing necessity of applying such remedies as were in their power, and circumstances seemed to justify, they resolved to substitute laws of their own for the existing system, and to establish tribunals for their proper and faithful administration.

"In obedience, therefore, to the extraordinary exigencies of their condition, the people of the city of San Francisco elected members to form a legislature, and clothed them with full powers to pass laws.

"The communities of Sonoma and of Sacramento city followed the example.

"Thus were three legislative bodies organized; the two most distant being only one hundred and thirty miles apart.

"Other movements of the kind were threatened, and doubtless would have followed, in other sections of the territory, had they not been arrested by the formation of a State government.

"While the people of California were looking to Congress for a territorial government, it was quite evident that such an organization was daily becoming less suited to their condition, which was entirely different from that of any of the territories out of which the new States of the Union had been formed.

"Those territories had been at first slowly and sparsely peopled by a few hunters and farmers, who penetrated the wilderness, or traveled the prairies, in search of game or a new home; and, when thus gradually their population warranted it, a government was provided for them. They, however, had no foreign commerce, nor any thing beyond the ordinary pursuits of agriculture, and the various branches of business which usually accompany it, to induce immigration within their borders. Several years were required to give them sufficient population and wealth to place them in a condition to require, or enable them to support, a State government.

"Not so with California. The discovery of the vast metallic and mineral wealth in her mountains had already attracted to her, in the space of twelve months, more than one hundred thousand people. An extensive commerce had sprung up with China, the ports of Mexico on the Pacific, Chili, and Australia.

"Hundreds of vessels from the Atlantic ports of the Union, freighted with our manufactures and agricultural products, and filled with our fellow-citizens, had arrived, or were on their passage round Cape Horn; so that, in the month of June last, (1849) there were more than three hundred sea-going vessels in the port of San Francisco.

"California has a border on the Pacific of ten degrees of latitude, and several important harbors which have never been surveyed; nor is there a buoy, a beacon, a lighthouse, or a fortification, on the whole coast.

"There are no docks for the repair of national or mercantile vessels nearer than New York, a distance of some twenty thousand miles round Cape Horn.

"All these things, together with the proper regulations for the gold region, the quicksilver mines, the survey and disposition of the public lands, the adjustment of land titles, the establishment of a mint and of marine hospitals, required the immediate formation of a more perfect civil government than California then had, and the fostering care of Congress and the Executive.

"California had, as it were by magic, become a State of great wealth and power. One short year had given her a commercial importance but little inferior to that of the most powerful of the old States. She had passed her minority at a single bound, and might justly be regarded as fully entitled to take her place as an equal among her sisters of the Union.

"When, therefore, the reality became known to the people of that territory that the government had done nothing to relieve them from the evils and embarrassments under which they were suffering, and seeing no probability of any change on the subject which divided Congress, they adopted, with most unexampled unanimity and promptitude, the only course which lay open to them—the immediate formation of a State government.

"They were induced to take this step not only for the reason that it promised the most speedy remedy for present difficulties, but because the great and rapidly growing interests of the territory demanded it; and all reflecting men saw, at a glance, that it ought not to be any longer, and could not, under any circumstances, be much longer postponed.

"They not only considered themselves best qualified, but that they had the right to decide, as far as they were concerned, the embarrassing question which was shaking the Union to its centre, and had thus far deprived them of a regularly organized civil government. They believed that, in forming a constitution, they had a right to establish or prohibit slavery, and that, in their action as a State, they would be sustained by the North and the South.

"In taking this step, they proceeded with all the regularity which has ever characterized the American people in discharging the great and important duties of self-government.

"The steamer in which I was a passenger did not stop at Monterey; I therefore did not see General Riley, nor had I any communication with him until about the middle of the month, when he came to San Francisco. A few days after my arrival, his proclamation calling a Convention to form a State constitution, dated the third of June, was received.

"The people acted in compliance with what they believed to be the views of Congress, and conformably to the recommendations of the proclamation; and proceeded, on the day appointed, to elect members to a Convention for the purpose of forming a constitution, to be regularly submitted to the people for their ratification or rejection, and, if approved, to be presented to Congress, with a prayer for the admission of California, as a State, into the Union."

According to the recommendation of General Riley, the civil governor of California, an election of delegates to form a Convention was held on the 1st of August, 1849. The number of delegates to be elected was thirty-seven. General Riley, General Smith, and Thomas Butler King, used every means to stimulate the people to hold the preparatory meetings, and they were generally successful. But in some districts scarcely any move was made until a few days before the election. In one or two instances, the election was not held upon the day appointed; but the Convention nevertheless admitted the delegates elected in such cases.

The Convention was to meet on the 1st of September, at Monterey; but it did not get regularly organized until the 4th of that month, when Dr. Robert Semple, of the Sonoma district, was chosen president. The proportion of the native Californian members to the American was about equal to that of the population. Among the members was Captain John Sutter, the pioneer settler of California, General Vallejo and Antonio Pico, who had both been distinguished men in California, before the conquest. The body, as a whole, commanded respect, as being dignified and intellectual.

The Declaration of Rights was the first measure adopted by the Convention. Its sections being general and liberal in their character, were nearly all adopted by a unanimous vote. The clause prohibiting the existence of slavery was the unanimous sentiment of the Convention. The Constitution will be found in another part of this work, and we will not here recapitulate its provisions. It combines the best features of the Constitutions of the States east of the Rocky Mountains, and is in most respects similar to that of the State of New York.

The most exciting questions discussed were, a clause prohibiting the entrance of free people of color into the State, the boundary line, and the great seal of the State. The first, the clause prohibiting the entrance of free people of color into the State, passed first reading, but was subsequently rejected by a large majority. The question of suffrage occasioned some discussion, widely differing opinions being entertained by the members. An article was adopted by the Convention, excluding Indians and negroes, with their descendants, from the privilege of voting; but it was subsequently modified by a proviso, which gave the Legislature power of admitting Indians, or the descendants of Indians to the right of suffrage by a two-thirds concurrent vote. Under this provision, some of the most wealthy and influential Californians are excluded from voting until permitted by the Legislature.

The boundary question, which came up towards the close of the Convention, was the most exciting theme. The point of dispute was the eastern boundary line. The Pacific formed the natural boundary on the west; the parallel of 42 degrees, the boundary on the north, and the Mexican line, run in conformity with the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, the boundary on the south. The discussion, reconsideration and voting upon the various propositions occupied nearly two days. Finally, the line detailed in the Constitution was adopted.

The discussion upon the adoption of the Great Seal for the State was amusing. Eight or ten designs were offered, and the members from the different districts were all anxious to have their particular district represented. The choice finally fell upon one offered by a Major Garnett. The principal figure is Minerva, with spear and shield, emblematic of the manner in which California was born, full-grown, into the confederacy. At her feet crouches the grizzly bear. Before him is the wheat-sheaf and vine, illustrating the agricultural products of the country. Near them is the miner, with his implements. In the distance is the Bay of San Francisco, and beyond that, the Sierra Nevada, over which appears the word "Eureka." The closing scenes of the Convention are described in graphic and vivid colors by one who was an eye-witness to them, and recorded them upon the spot.[12]

"The members met this morning at the usual hour, to perform the last duty that remained to them—that of signing the Constitution. They were all in the happiest humor, and the morning was so bright and balmy that no one seemed disposed to call an organization. Mr. Semple was sick, and Mr. Steuart, of San Francisco, therefore called the meeting to order by moving Captain Sutter's appointment in his place. The chair was taken by the old pioneer, and the members took their seats around the sides of the hall, which still retained the pine-trees and banners, left from last night's decorations. The windows and doors were open, and a delightful breeze came in from the bay, whose blue waters sparkled in the distance. The view from the balcony in front was bright and inspiring. The town below—the shipping in the harbor—the pine-covered hills behind—were mellowed by the blue October haze, but there was no cloud in the sky, and I could plainly see, on the northern horizon, the mountains of Santa Cruz and the Sierra de Gavilan.

"After the minutes had been read, the Committee appointed to draw up an Address to the people of California, was called upon to report, and Mr. Steuart, Chairman, read the Address. Its tone and sentiment met with universal approval, and it was adopted without a dissenting voice. A resolution was then offered to pay Lieutenant Hamilton, who is now engaged in engrossing the Constitution upon parchment, the sum of $500 for his labor. This magnificent price, probably the highest ever paid for a similar service, is on a par with all things else in California. As this was their last session, the members were not disposed to find fault with it, especially when it was stated by one of them that Lieutenant Hamilton had written day and night to have it ready, and was still working upon it, though with a lame and swollen hand. The sheet for the signer's names was ready, and the Convention decided to adjourn for half an hour and then meet for the purpose of signing.

"I amused myself during the interval by walking about the town. Every body knew that the Convention was about closing, and it was generally understood that Captain Burton had loaded the guns at the fort, and would fire a salute of thirty-one guns at the proper moment. The citizens, therefore, as well as the members, were in an excited mood. Monterey never before looked so bright, so happy, so full of pleasant expectation.

"About one o'clock the Convention met again; few of the members, indeed, had left the hall. Mr. Semple, though in feeble health, called them to order, and, after having voted General Riley a salary of $10,000, and Mr. Halleck, Secretary of State, $6000 a year, from the commencement of their respective offices, they proceeded to affix their names to the completed Constitution. At this moment a signal was given; the American colors ran up the flag-staff in front of the government buildings, and streamed out on the air. A second afterward the first gun boomed from the fort, and its stirring echoes came back from one hill after another, till they were lost in the distance.

"All the native enthusiasm of Captain Sutter's Swiss blood was aroused; he was the old soldier again. He sprang from his seat, and, waving his hand around his head, as if swinging a sword, exclaimed; 'Gentlemen, this is the happiest day of my life. It makes me glad to hear those cannon: they remind me of the time when I was a soldier. Yes, I am glad to hear them—this is a great day for California!' Then, recollecting himself, he sat down, the tears streaming from his eyes. The members with one accord, gave three tumultuous cheers, which were heard from one end of the town to the other. As the signing went on, gun followed gun from the fort, the echoes reverberating grandly around the bay, till finally, as the loud ring of the thirty-first was heard, there was a shout: 'That's for California!' and every one joined in giving three times three for the new star added to our Confederation.

"There was one handsome act I must not omit to mention. The captain of the English bark Volunteer, of Sidney, Australia, lying in the harbor, sent on shore in the morning for an American flag. When the first gun was heard, a line of colors ran fluttering up to the spars, the stars and stripes flying triumphantly from the main-top. The compliment was the more marked, as some of the American vessels neglected to give any token of recognition to the event of the day.

"The Constitution having been signed and the Convention dissolved, the members proceeded in a body to the house of General Riley. The visit was evidently unexpected by the old veteran. When he made his appearance, Captain Sutter stepped forward, and having shaken him by the hand, drew himself into an erect attitude, raised one hand to his breast as if he were making a report to his commanding officer on the field of battle, and addressed him as follows: