San Luis Obispo County CA Archives History - Books .....Chapter VII California Under Mexico 1883 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ca/cafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com August 8, 2006, 3:11 am Book Title: History Of San Luis Obispo County California CHAPTER VII. CALIFORNIA UNDER MEXICO. Pleasant Memories—Prosperous Rancheros—Generous Hospitality—Califomians in 1835—General Style of Dress of the People —Pure and Mixed Blood—Fine Voices—California Money-Methods of Travel—Californian's Easter Sunday—Singular Funeral—Cock Fighting—A Horse Race—Dancing—Description of a Festival, January 10, 1836—Curious Custom—Love's Offering—Twenty-four Years Later—Captain John Wilson—Reminiscences—Return Voyage—California Customs—The Carreta—A Manly Race—Schools—Fecundity of the People—Their Tables—The Family at Home—Weddings—The Ladies' Costumes—Caballero's Dress—Funeral Customs—Postal System—Hospitable Califomians—The Ranchos—The Rodeos—A Changed Condition—Ecclesiastical or Monkish Government. THE happy days of the ranchero period—from the missions to the gold discovery—is the theme upon which the Californian who lived in that time loves to dwell. They were the elysian days of this pleasant land, around which romance, aided by sweet memory, has thrown an enchanting glamour that at the present date rises to an absorbing interest. Those whose memories reach into that delightful era of the past see it in their imagination as it was to them thirty, and forty, and fifty years ago, when they were children thoughtless of the morrow; when they were joyous youths without the responsible cares of life, seeking the pleasures and animated by the buoyant spirit given them by the healthful climate and the manly exercise incident to the rancho; when they were in their stalwart prime with simple wants easily supplied; an abundance for all according to the customs of the country; positions in society established without envy, jealousy, or contention; politeness, hospitality and fraternity on every hand, and when all were intent on enjoying the present with an abiding confidence in the welfare of the future. If these were old people scheming for wealth, planning with the officers of the Government to extend their broad leagues and swell their vast herds, or to get, at low rates of duty through the custom house, their silks, and satins, and velvets, and prunella, and laces, and pretty slippers, and gingling buttons, and snowy linens, and stylish sombreros, and the many other fancy things they loved for dress; or planning again to overthrow the Government, and place themselves or friends in power; we know not of them now, they have gone to their dust, or remember only the pleasures, the comforts, the ease, and the loved ones of their early life. Now is remembered the broad, open country, the prolific herds of cattle which afforded food and revenue with but little labor, the great bands of prancing horses, the skillful and dashing horseman, the fancy and graceful costume, the richly and gaily caparisoned steed, the pleasant fandango, the musical Spanish tongue, the dolce far niente of Spanish times, the days of youth and long ago. PROSPEROUS RANCHEROS. From the bay of San Francisco to San Diego was the California of that period. About and north of the great bay the Americans were settling in threatening numbers, but south the predominating power was Spanish, and all strangers, being of the male sex, had so assimilated with the natives that they had become of them, marrying into their families, speaking their language, professing their religion, adopting their customs, and naturalizing as citizens. This region may therefor be regarded as purely Spanish. That portion now organized as San Luis Obispo County, was most sparsely settled of all the coast, there being but the families and a few dependents on the great ranchos and at the missions, the Danas, Sparks, Price, Villavicencia, and Branch in the southern part; Avila, Wilson, Pico, Cantua, Estrada, Linares, Stenner, Gaxiola, Villa, Gonzales, Feliz, McKinley, Pujol, Quintana, Herrera, Bonilla, and Padre Gomez, near the mission and on the coast; Estrada, Rios, and a few others east of the Santa Lucia, and we have about all the principal residents of the ante-American time. GENEROUS HOSPITALITY. The roads from rancho to rancho were but trails, the traveling being by horseback, the wheeled vehicles {caretas) seldom venturing far from the rancho where made. Hospitality was unbounded, and the wayfarer was always welcomed as at home. Particularly was the welcome kind to the American, who, says Mr. Price, the veteran of Pismo, "were looked up to as gods; there was nothing too good for them; but that was before the gold discovery; since then the native Californians have been treated so badly that they don't think so much of the Yankees as they used to." There were no hotels, but every house and mission was open to all to the utmost capacity it could entertain, and, instead of expecting pay, whenever circumstances would justify, money was delicately tendered to the visitor by leaving it at his bedside to help himself if he chose. With a saddle and bridle of his own he could, and was expected to catch a fresh horse every morning, turning it loose when exhausted or at the journey's end. If such a stranger as to have no riding equipments, they were supplied, and an attache of the rancho sent as guide, and to bring back the animals. There were none so poor as not to willingly tender all the hospitality their home afforded, and in manner and politeness becoming a courtier of royalty. Politeness was instinctive to the people. The elder people were polite to each other, and the children knew no other customs. Their manners were as graceful as polite, thus giving a charm to their society that proved the unyielding attraction that bound many rovers to the land, becoming willing life prisoners to the fair Donas. The hunters and trappers who came by land to the California coast, and the shipmasters and sailors who landed upon it from the sea were thus received, converted from the faith of their fathers, and made citizens of the country. Safely may it be said that none ever regretted their capture. CALIFORNIANS IN 1835. A description of the people of California was written in 1835 by Richard H. Dana, a cousin of the late Capt. W. G. Dana, of Nipomo, and published in his delightful book entitled "Two Years Before the Mast." This description will be interesting at this date, although the scenes he describes occurred either at Monterey or Santa Barbara, some of the people he mentions were citizens or closely connected with citizens of San Luis Obispo:— GENERAL STYLE OF DRESS OF THE PEOPLE. The dress of the men was as I have before described it. The women wore gowns of various texture—silks, crape, calicoes, etc.—made after the European style, except that the sleeves were short, leaving the arms bare, and that they were loose about the waist, corsets not being in use. They wore shoes of kid or satin, sashes or belts of bright colors, and almost always a necklace and ear-rings. Bonnets, they had none. I only saw one on the coast, and that belonged to the wife of an American sea captain, who had settled in San Diego, and had imported the chaotic mass of straw and ribbon, as a choice present to his new wife. They wear their hair (which is almost invaribly black, or a very dark brown) long in their necks, sometimes loose, and sometimes in long braids, though the married women often do it up on a high comb. Their only protection against the sun and weather is a large mantle which they put over their heads, drawing it close round their faces, when they go out of doors, which is generally only in pleasant weather. When in the house, or sitting out in front of it, which they often do in fine weather, they usually wear a small scarf or neckerchief of a rich pattern. A band, also, about the top of the head, with a cross, star, or other ornament in front is common. PURE AND MIXED BLOOD. Their complexions are various, depending—as well as their dress and manner—upon the amount of Spanish blood they can lay claim to, which also settles their social rank. Those who are of pure Spanish blood, having never intermarried with the aborigines, have clear brunette complexions, and sometimes even as fair as those of English women. There are but few of these families in California, being mostly those in official stations, or who, on the expiration of their terms of office, have settled here upon property they have acquired, and others who have been banished for State offenses. These form the upper class, intermarrying and keeping up an exclusive system in every respect. They can be distinguished, not only by their complexion, dress, and manners, but also by their speech; for, calling themselves Castilians, they are very ambitious of speaking the pure Castilian, while all Spanish is spoken in a somewhat corrupted dialect by the lower classes. From this upper class they go down by regular shades, growing more and more dark and muddy, until you come to the pure Indian, who runs about with nothing upon him but a small piece of cloth, kept up by a wide leather strap drawn around his waist. Generally speaking, each person's caste is decided by the quality of the blood, which shows itself, too plainly to be concealed, at first sight. Yet the least drop of Spanish blood, if it be only of quadroon or octoroon, is sufficient to raise one from the position of a serf, and entitle him to wear a suit of clothes, boots, hat, cloak, spurs, long knife, all complete, though coarse and dirty as may be, and to call himeslf [sic] Espanol, and to hold property, if he can get any. The fondness for dress among women is excessive, and is sometimes their ruin. A present of a fine mantle, or necklace, or pair of ear-rings gains the favor of the greater part. Nothing is more common than to see a woman living in a house of only two rooms, with the ground for a floor, dressed in spangled satin shoes, silk gown, high comb, and gilt, if not gold earrings and necklace. If their husbands do not dress them well, they will soon receive presents from others. They used to spend whole days on board our vessel, examining the fine clothes and ornaments, and frequently making purchases at a rate which would have made a seamstress or waiting maid in Boston open her eyes. FINE VOICES. Next to the love of dress, I was most struck with the fineness of the voices and beauty of the intonations of both sexes. Every common ruffian-looking fellow, with a slouched hat, blanket cloak, dirty underdress, and soiled leather leggins, appeared to me to be speaking elegant Spanish. It was a pleasure to listen simply to the sound of the language before I could attach any meaning to it. They have a good deal of the Creole drawl, but it is varied by an occasional extreme rapidity of utterance in which they seem to skip from consonant to consonant, until, lighting upon a broad open vowel, they rest upon that to restore the balance of sound. The women carry this peculiarity of speaking to a much greater extreme than the men, who have more evenness and stateliness of utterance. A common bullock-driver on horseback, delivering a message, seemed to speak like an embassador at a royal audience. In fact, they sometimes appeared to me to be a people on whom a curse had fallen, and stripped them of everything but their pride, their manners, and their voices. CALIFORNIA MONEY. Another thing that surprised me was the quantity of silver in circulation . . . The truth is they have no credit system, no banks, and no way of investing money but in cattle. Besides silver, they have no circulating medium but hides, which the sailors call "California bank notes." Everything that they buy must be paid for by one or the other of these means. The hides they bring down dried and doubled, in clumsy ox-carts, or upon mules' backs, and the money they carry tied up in handkerchiefs, fifty or a hundred dollars and half-dollars. METHODS OF TRAVEL. The men appeared to me to be always on horseback. Horses are as abundant out here as dogs and chickens were in Juan Fernandez. There are no stables to keep them in, but they are allowed to run wild and graze wherever they please, being branded, and having long leather ropes, called lassoes, attached to their necks and dragging along behind them, by which they can be easily taken. The men usually catch one in the morning, throw a saddle and bridle upon him, and use him for the day, and let him go at night, catching another the next day. When they go on long journeys, they ride one horse down, and catch another, throw the saddle and bridle upon him, and after riding him down, take a third and so on to the end of the journey. There are probably no better riders in the world. They are put upon a horse when only four or five years old, their legs not long enough to come half-way over his sides, and may-almost be said to keep on him until they have grown to him. The stirrups are covered, or boxed up in front, to prevent their catching when riding through the woods; and the saddles are large and heavy, strapped very tight upon the horse, and have large pommels, or loggerheads, in front, around which the lasso is coiled when not in use. They can hardly go from one house to another without mounting a horse, there being generally several standing tied to the door-posts of the little cottages. When they wish to show their activity they make no use of their stirrups in mounting, but, striking the horse, spring into the saddle as he starts, and, sticking their long spurs into him, go off on the full run. Their spurs are cruel things, having four or five rowels, each an inch in length dull and rusty. The flanks of the horses are often sore from them, and I have seen men come in from chasing bullocks, with their horses' hind legs and quarters covered with blood. They frequently give exhibitions of their horsemanship in races, bull-baitings, etc. CALIFORNIANS' EASTER SUNDAY. Liberty was allowed us on Easter Sunday and we were permitted to go ashore and misspend the day. Supposing that the whole day would be too long a time to spend ashore, as there was no place to which we could take a ride, we remained quietly on board until after dinner. We were then pulled ashore in the stern of the boat—for it is a point with liberty-men to be pulled off and back as passengers by their ship-mates—and, with orders to be taken on the beach at sundown, we took our way for the town. There everything wore the appearance of a holiday. The people were dressed in their best; the men riding about among the houses, and the women sitting on carpets before the doors. Under the piazza of a pulperia two men were seated, decked out with knots of ribbons and bouquets, and playing the violin and the Spanish guitar. These are the only instruments, with the exception of the drums and trumpets at Monterey, that I ever heard in California, and I suspect they play upon no others, for at a great fandango, at which I was afterward present, and where they mustered all the music they could find, there were three violins and two guitars, and no other instruments. As it was now too near the middle of the day to see any dancing, and hearing that a bull was expected down from the country to be baited in the presidio square, in the course of an hour or two, we took a stroll among the houses. SINGULAR FUNERAL. Inquiring for an American, who, we had been told, had married in the place, and kept a shop, we were directed to a long, low building, at the end of which was a door, with a sign over it, in Spanish. Entering the shop, we found no one in it, and the whole had an empty, deserted air. In a few minutes the man made his appearance and apologized for having nothing to entertain us with, saying that he had had a fandango at his house the night before, and the people had eaten and drank up everything. "O, yes!" said I, "Easter holidays." " No!" said he, with a singular expression on his face; "I had a little daughter die the other day, and that's the custom of the country." At this I felt somewhat awkwardly, not knowing what to say, and whether to offer consolation or not, and was beginning to retire, when he opened a side door, and told us to walk in. Here I was no less astonished; for I found a large room, filled with young girls, from three or four years of age up to fifteen and sixteen, dressed all in white, with wreaths of flowers on their heads, and bouquets in their hands. Following our conductor among these girls, who were playing about in high spirits, we came to a table, at the end of the room, covered with a white cloth, on which lay a coffin, about three feet long, with the body of his child. The coffin was covered with-white cloth, and lined with white satin, and was strewn with flowers. Through an open door we saw in another room a few elderly people, in common dress, while the benches and tables, thrown up in a corner, and the stained walls, gave evidence of the last night's "high go." Feeling, like Garrick between tragedy and comedy, an uncertainty of purpose, I asked the man when the funeral would take place, and being told that it would move toward the mission in about an hour, took my leave. To pass away the time we hired horses and rode to the beach, and there saw three or four Italian sailors, mounted, and riding up and down the hard sand at a furious rate. We joined them and found it fine sport. The beach gave us a stretch of a mile or more, and the horses flew over the smooth, hard sand, apparently invigorated and excited by the salt sea-breeze and by the continual roar and dashing of the breakers. From the beach we returned to the town, and, finding that the funeral procession had moved, rode on and overtook it, about half-way up to the mission. Here was as peculiar a sight as we had seen before in the house, the one looking as much like a funeral procession as the other did like a house of mourning. The little coffin was borne by eight girls, who were continually relieved by others running forward from the procession "and taking their places. Behind it came a straggling company of girls, dressed, as before, in white and flowers, and including, I should suppose by their number, nearly all the girls between five and fifteen in the place. They played along on the way, frequently stopping and running altogether to talk to some one, or to pick up a flower, and then running on again to overtake the coffin. There were a few elderly women in common colors, and a herd of young men and boys, some on foot and others mounted, followed them, or walked or rode by their side, frequently interrupting them by jokes and questions. But the most singular thing of all was that two men walked, one on each side of the coffin, carrying muskets in their hands, which they continually loaded and fired into the air. Whether this was to keep off the evil spirits or no I do not know. It was the only interpretation that I could put upon it. As we drew near the mission, we saw the great gate thrown open, and the padre standing on the steps with a crucifix in his hand. The mission is a large and deserted-looking place, the out-buildings going to ruin, and everything giving one the impression of decayed grandeur. A large stone fountain threw out pure water from four mouths into a basin before the church door, and we were on the point of riding up to it to let our horses drink, when it occurred to us that it might be consecrated and we forebore. Just at this moment the bells set up their harsh, discordant clangor, and the procession moved into the court. I wished to follow and see the ceremony, but the horse of one of my companions had become frightened and was tearing off toward the town, and, having thrown his rider, and got one of his hoofs caught in the tackling of the saddle, which had slipped, was fast dragging and ripping it to pieces. Knowing that my shipmate could not speak a word of Spanish, and fearing that he might get into difficulty, I was obliged to leave the ceremony and ride after him. I soon overtook him trudging along, swearing at the horse, and carrying the remains of the saddle, which he had picked up on the road. Going to the owner of the horse, we made a settlement with him and found him surprisingly liberal. All parts of the saddle were brought back, and being capable of repair, he was satisfied with six reals. We thought it would have been a few dollars. We pointed to the horse, which was now half-way up one of the mountains, but he shook his head, saying, "No importe," and giving us to understand that he had plenty more. COCK FIGHTING. Having returned to the town, we saw a crowd collected in the square before the principal pulperia, and, riding up, found that all these people—men, women, and children, had been drawn together by a couple of bantam cocks. The cocks were in full tilt, springing into one another, and the people were as eager, laughing and shouting, as though the combatants had been men. There had been a disappointment about the bull; he had broken his bail and taken himself off, and it was too late to get another, so the people were obliged to put up with a cock fight. One of the bantams having been knocked in the head and having an eye put out, gave in, and two monstrous prize cocks were brought on. These were the objects of the whole affair, the bantams having been merely served up as a first course to collect the people together. Two fellows came into the ring holding the cocks in their arms and stroking them, and running about on all fours, encouraging and setting them on. Bets ran high, and like most other contests, it remained for some time undecided. Both cocks showed great pluck, and fought probably better and longer than their masters would have done. Whether in the end it was the white or red that beat I do not recollect, but whichever it was he strutted off with the true veni-vidi-vici look, leaving the other panting on his beam ends. A HORSE RACE. This matter having been settled, we heard some talk about "caballos" and "carrera," and seeing the people streaming off in one direction, we followed, and came I upon a level piece of ground just out of the town, which was used as a race-course. Here the crowd soon became thick again, the ground was marked off, the judges stationed, and the horses led up to one end. Two fine-looking old gentlemen—Don Carlos and Don Domingo, so-called—held the stakes, and all was now ready. We waited some time, during which we could just see the horses, twisting round and turning, until, at length, there was a shout along the line, and on they came, heads stretched out and eyes starting, working all over, both man and beast. The steeds came by us like a couple of chain shot, neck and neck, and now we could see nothing of them but their backs and their hind hoofs flying in the air. As fast as the horses passed, the crowd broke up behind them and ran to the goal. When we got there we I found the horses returning on a slow walk, having run far beyond the mark, and heard that the long bony one had come in head and shoulders before the other. The riders were light-built men, had handkerchiefs tied around their heads, and were bare-armed and bare-legged. The horses were noble-looking beasts, not so sleek and combed as our Boston stable horses, but with fine limbs and spirited eyes. After this had been settled and fully talked over, the crowd scattered again, and flocked back to the town. DANCING. Returning to the large pulperia, we heard the violin and guitar screaming and twanging away, under the piazza where they had been all day. As it was now sundown, there began to be some dancing. The Italian sailors danced, and one of our crew I exhibited himself in a sort of West India shuffle, much to the amusement of the bystanders, who cried out, "Bravo!" "Otra Vez!" and "Vivian los Marineros!" but the dancing did not become general, as the women and the gente de razon had not yet made their appearance. We wished very much to stay and see the style of dancing, but, although we had our own way during the day, yet we were after all but fore-mast jacks, and, having been ordered to be on the beach by sunset, did not venture to be more than an hour behind time, so we took our way down. DESCRIPTION OF A FESTIVAL, JANUARY 10, 1836. Great preparations were now being made on shore for the marriage of our agent,* who was to marry Dona Anita de la Guerra de Noriega y Carrillo, youngest daughter of Don Antonio Noriega, the grandee of the place, and the head of the first family in California. * Alfred Robinson, of Boston. Our steward was ashore three days making pastry and cake, and some of the best of our stores were sent off with him. On the day appointed for the wedding, we took the Captain ashore in the gig, and had orders to come for him at night, with leave to go up to the house and see the fandango. Returning on board we found preparations making for a salute. Our guns were loaded and run out, men appointed to each, cartridges served out, matches lighted, and all the flags ready to be run up. I took my place at the starboard after gun, and we all waited for the signal from on shore. At ten o'clock the bride went up with her sister to the confessional, dressed in black. Nearly an hour intervened, when the great doors of the mission church opened, the bells rang out a loud discordant peal, the private signal for us was run up by the Captain ashore, the bride, dressed in complete white, came out of the church with the bridegroom, followed by a long procession. Just as she stepped from the church door, a small white cloud issued from the bows of our ship, which was full in sight, the loud report echoed among the hills and over the bay, and instantly the ship was dressed in flags and penants from stem to stern. Twenty-three guns followed in regular succession, with an interval of fifteen seconds between each, when the cloud blew off and our ship lay dressed in her colors all day. At sundown another salute of the same number of guns was fired, and all the flags run down. This we thought was pretty well—a gun every fifteen seconds—for a merchant-man with only four guns and a dozen or twenty men. After supper the gig's crew were called and we rowed ashore, dressed in full uniform, beached the boat, and went up to the fandango. The bride's father's house was the principal one in the place, with a large court in front, upon which a tent was built, capable of containing several hundred people. As we drew near we heard the accustomed sound of violins and guitars, and saw a great motion of the people within. Going in we found nearly all the people of the town—men, women, and children, collected and crowded together, leaving barely room for the dancers; for on these occasions no invitations are given, but every one is expected to come, though there is always a private entertainment within the house for particular friends. The old women sat down in rows, clapping their hands to the music and applauding the young ones. The music was lively, and among the tunes we recognized several of our popular airs, which we, without doubt, have taken from the Spanish. In the dancing I was much disappointed. The women stood upright with their hands down by their sides, their eyes fixed upon the ground before them, and slided about without any perceptible means of motion; for their feet were invisible, the hem of their dresses forming a circle about them, reaching to the ground. They looked as grave as though they were going through some religious ceremony, their faces as little excited as their limbs, and on the whole, instead of the spirited, fascinating, Spanish dances which I had expected, I found the Californian fandango, on the part of the women at least, a lifeless affair. The men did better. They danced with grace and spirit, moving in circles around their nearly stationary partners and showing their figures to advantage. A great deal was said about our friend Don Juan Bandini, and when he did appear, which was toward the close of the evening, he certainly gave us the most graceful dancing that I had ever seen. He was dressed in white pantaloons, neatly made, a short jacket of dark silk gaily figured, white stockings and thin morocco slippers upon his very small feet. His slight and graceful figure was well adapted to dancing, and he moved about with the grace and daintiness of a young fawn. He was loudly applauded, and danced frequently toward the close of the evening. After the supper the waltzing began, which was confined to a very few of the gente de razon, and was considered a high accomplishment, and a mark of aristocracy. Here, too, Don Juan figured greatly, waltzing with the sister of the bride (Dona Augustia, a handsome and a general favorite), in a variety of beautiful figures, which lasted as much as half an hour, no one else taking the floor. They were repeatedly and loudly applauded, the old men and women jumping out of their seats in admiration, and the young people waving their hats and handkerchiefs. CURIOUS CUSTOM. The great amusement of the evening—owing to its being the carnival—was the breaking of eggs filled with cologne, or other essences, upon the heads of the company. The women bring a great number of these secretly about them, and the amusement is to break one upon the head of a gentleman when his back is turned. He is bound in gallantry to find out the lady and return the compliment, though it must not be done if the person sees you. A tall, stately Don, with immense gray whiskers, and a look of great importance, was standing before me, when I felt a light hand upon my shoulder, and, turning round, saw Dona Augustia, whom we all knew, as she had been up to Monterey and down again in the Alert, with her finger upon her lip, motioning me gently aside. I stepped back a little, when she went up behind the Don, and with one hand knocked off his huge sombrero, and at the same instant with the other, broke the egg upon his head, and springing behind me, was out of sight in a moment. The Don turned slowly round, the cologne running down his face and over his clothes, and a loud laugh breaking out from every quarter. A great many such tricks were played, and many a war of sharp manoeuvering was carried on between couples of the younger people, and at every successful exploit a general laugh was raised. LOVE'S OFFERING: Another of their games I was for some time at a loss about. A pretty young girl was dancing, named after what would appear to us an almost sacrilegious custom of the country, Espritu Santa, when a young man went behind her and placed his hat directly upon her head, letting it fall down over her eyes, and sprang back among the crowd. She danced for some time with the hat on, when she threw it off, which called forth a general shout, and the young man was obliged to go out upon the floor and pick it up. I soon began to suspect the meaning of the thing, and was afterwards told that it was a compliment, and an offer to become the lady's gallant for the rest of the evening, and to wait upon her home. The Captain sent for us about ten o'clock, and we went aboard in high spirits, having enjoyed the new scene much, and were of great importance among the crew, from having so much to tell, and from the prospect of going every night until it was over; for these fandangoes generally last three days. The next day two of us were sent up town, and took care to come back by way of Senor Noriega's and take a look into the booth. The musicians were again there, upon their platform, scraping and twanging away, and a few people, apparently of the lower classes, were dancing. The dancing is kept up, at intervals, throughout the day, but the crowd, the spirit, and the elite come in at night. The next night, which was the last, we went ashore in the same manner, until we got almost tired of the monotonous twang of the instruments, the drawling sounds which the women kept up, as an accompaniment, and the slapping of the hands in time with the music in place of castanets. We found ourselves as great objects of attention as any persons or anything at the place. Our sailors' dresses were much admired, and we were invited from every quarter to give them an American dance. Our agent, with a tight, black, swallow-tailed coat, just imported from Boston, a high, stiff cravat, looking as if he had been pinned and skewered, with only his feet and hands left free, took the floor just after Bandini, and we thought they had had enough of Yankee grace. The last night they kept it up in grand style, and were getting into a "high go," when the Captain called us off to go aboard, for, it being southeaster season, he was afraid to remain on shore long; and it was well that he did not, for that night we slipped our cables, as a crowner to our fun ashore, and stood off before a southeaster, which lasted twelve hours, and returned to our anchorage the next day. TWENTY-FOUR YEARS LATER, In 1859, Mr. Dana again visited the Pacific Coast, this time as a passenger on the then floating palace, as it was called, steamship Golden Gate. The great change was noticed. California was American, gold mining was the great excitement, and San Francisco instead of Monterey was the great city. He relates seeing many familiar objects, and meeting a number of those he had become acquainted with on his earlier voyage. The following extract from his journal relates to a trip down the coast:— SATURDAY, August 20, 1859.—The steamer Senator makes regular trips up and down the coast, between San Francisco and San Diego, calling at intermediate ports. This is my opportunity to revisit the old scenes. She sails to-day, and I am off, steaming among the great clippers anchored in the harbor, and gliding rapidly round the point, past Alcatraz Island, the light-house, and through the fortified Golden Gate, and bending to the southeast, all down in two or three hours, which, in the Alert, under canvas, with head tides, variable winds, and sweeping currents to deal with, took us full two days. CAPTAIN JOHN WILSON. Among the passengers I noticed an elderly gentleman, thin, with sandy hair and a face that seemed familiar. He took off his gloves and showed one shriveled hand. It must be he! I went up to him and said, "Captain Wilson,* I believe." Yes, that was his name. "I knew you, sir, when you commanded the Ayacucho on this coast in old hide-droghing times, in 1835-36." He was quickened by this, and at once inquiries were made on each side, and we were in full talk about the Pilgrim and Alert, Ayacucho, and Loriotte, the California, and Lagoda. I found he had been very much flattered by the praise I had bestowed in my book on his seamanship, especially in bringing the Pilgrim to her berth in San Diego harbor, after she had drifted successively into the Lagoda and Loriotte, and was coming into him. I had made a pet of his brig, the Ayacucho, which pleased him almost as much as my remembrance of his bride and their wedding, which I saw at Santa Barbara in 1836. Dona Ramona was now the mother of a, large family, and Wilson assured me that if I would visit him at his rancho, near San Luis Obispo, I should find her still a handsome woman and very glad to see me. How we walked the deck together, hour after hour, talking over the old times—the ships, the captains, the crews, the traders on shore, the ladies, the missions, the southeasters! Indeed, where could we stop? He had sold the Ayacucho in Chili for a vessel of war, and had given up the sea, and had been for years a ranchero. (I learned from others that he had become one of the most wealthy and respectable farmers in the State, and that his rancho was well worth visiting.) Capt. John Wilson was a native of Scotland, came from Peru in 1830, was a shipmaster on the coast for a number of years, then merchant and ranchero, owning the ranchos Los Osos y Pecho y Islay, the Chorro, and other lands. He married Dona Ramona Pacheco, widow of Don Romualdo Pacheco, a Colonel of the Mexican army on the staff of General Victoria, and killed by Avila at the Cahuenga Pass near Los Angeles in 1831. She was the mother of Governor Pacheco. Captain Wilson died in San Luis Obispo in i860, at the age of sixty-two. REMINISCENCES. Old Senor Noriega, of Santa Barbara, he told me, was dead, and Don Carlos and Don Santiago, but I should find their children there now in middle life. Dona Augustia,* he said, I had made famous, by my praises of her beauty and dancing, and I should have from her a royal reception. She had been a widow and remarried since, and had a daughter as handsome as herself. The descendants of Noriega had taken the ancestral name of De la Guerra, as they were nobles of old Spain by birth; and the boy Pablo, who used to make passages in the Alert, was now Don Pablo de la Guerra, a Senator in the State Legislature for San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara Counties. * Dona Maria de las Augustia de la Guerra married Don Manuel Jimeno, Secretary of Governor Alvarado, and after his death married Dr. Ord of the U. S. Army. RETURN VOYAGE. The steamer did not touch at the port of San Luis Obispo in going down, and the passengers for that place must make the voyage to San Diego and return. Mr. Dana was on a tour of observation, visiting the localities he had so vividly described and become so familiar with near a quarter of a century before. At Santa Barbara he landed in a boat as before, and found the town but very little changed. He learns that there is no such danger from southeasters as in former times. Captain Wilson tells me that the climate has altered; that the southeasters are no longer the bane of the coast they once were, and that vessels anchor inside the kelp at Santa Barbara and San Pedro all the year round. I should have thought this owing to his spending his winters on a rancho instead of the deck of the Ayacucho, had not the same thing been told me by others. The greater security of the anchorage probably arose from the better knowledge of the locality, as any change of climate is altogether improbable. Mr. Dana found the most change at the pueblo of Los Angeles, the trade of which justified the employment of a small tug or steam lighter, to land goods and passengers at the port of San Pedro. San Diego had undergone no other change than decay. The old hide houses at the landing, four miles from the town, were in ruins, and the mission, five miles inland from the town, was unoccupied and going to decay. Returning north the steamer stopped at San Luis Obispo to land Captain Wilson, whose earnest invitation to stop there and visit him at his rancho he was obliged to decline. At that date there were no wharves along the coast, the landings being effected in small boats. There were no railroads south of San Jose, and New San Diego was not known. From such sketches we obtain an occasional view of our coast and State as it has appeared from time to time in the past. CALIFORNIA CUSTOMS. A concise and comprehensive review of the people and their customs is found in the San Luis Obispo Tribune, furnished by Hon. Charles H. Johnson, whose long residence in the country, and habits of close observation render him the best authority extant. He says:— After the missions of California had been secularized, Mexican colonists with some foreigners who had become naturalized as Mexican citizens, acquired from the Government, through the Governors of California, grants of large tracts of land, ranging generally in extent from one to eleven leagues, although in some few instances exceeding the latter figures. These grants were made upon conditions of settlement, improvement, etc. They were soon stocked with cattle, sheep, and horses, that had been taken from the priests and Indians by the administrators of the missions and distributed or sold by them to these new proprietors. The whole of the settled portion of California, from the secularization of the missions to a period long subsequent to the acquisition of the country by the American Government, was devoted almost exclusively to pastoral purposes, mainly the rearing of vast herds of cattle. The small parcels of land that were cultivated for gardens, or to raise a little wheat or barley for domestic purposes, were broken up with hoes, or wooden plows drawn by oxen, the grain cut with sickles, threshed, or rather tramped out by bands of wild mares; cleansed by throwing it high in the air upon a windy day, and ground by women upon metatas—flat stones. On some of the large ranchos, mill-stones were used that had been taken from the mission water mills. A long pole being attached to the upper stone it was revolved by pushing against the pole. THE CARETA. Transportation was effected either by traction, that is, dragging with horses and oxen, or by means of ox-carts, which were made of pieces of rought timber, fastened together with thongs of rawhide and wooden pegs, and the wheels cut from the trunk of a tree. As late as 1850, the first American Civil Governor of California, Governor Burnett, with some members of the first Legislature, who were en route from San Francisco to San Jose, then the capital of the State, were conveyed in one of these carts from Alviso to the door of the State House, which was an old adobe building. Such was the industrial condition of California, from the secularization of the missions to a period subsequent to 1848, and such was indeed the condition of things in this county as late as 1856. A MANLY RACE. The native California rancheros—descendants of the Mexican colonists—were a hearty, robust race, lithe, active, and symmetrically formed. They were temperate in their habits, and enjoyed vigorous health. They had generous impulses and strong passions, although not of a revengeful disposition, yet they never entirely overlooked an affront. Their sole occupation being the rearing of cattle, they were inclined to indolence, but when the occasion demanded it, showed a great power of endurance —frequently riding one hundred miles in a day. Their chief amusements were horse-racing, bull-fighting and dancing. SCHOOLS. There being no schools in the country they were generally without a liberal education, although fully aware of its importance, as those who could afford the expense, sent their sons abroad, to the Sandwich Islands and to Peru, to be educated. Some were taught at home by the educated of the family, if there were any such, or by a tutor engaged, and slight instruction was given at the missions. The fine penmanship and language shown in the public documents preserved in the State and county archives are an evidence of the good education of many. THE FECUNDITY OF THE PEOPLE Was remarkable. It was rare to find a married couple with less than six or seven children, while many had from fifteen to twenty. Very few of them died in their youth, and in reaching the age of fifty, were almost sure of seeing their grandchildren, and in many cases, their great-grandchildren. Men of the age of eighty would ride long distances on horseback without exhibiting fatigue. The women were religious, virtuous, active and laborious, attending to all the household duties, the care of the children, attention to their husbands, and dedicating all their leisure moments to some occupation. Their clothing was always clean and decent, and they themselves, graceful and fine looking. The rose seemed to be ever stamped upon their cheeks. THEIR TABLES Were well supplied with substantial dishes. Breakfast was very light, however, and partaken of at an early hour. It consisted simply of a cup of coffee or chocolate with toast, tortillas, and a bit of cheese. Dinner was served at noon. The table was then furnished with a great variety of dishes, consisting of soup, beef broiled on coals, olla (the pot) boiled beef, generally the rib pieces, with garbanzo—a large pea—carrots and cabbage; olla podrida, a stew composed of chicken, beef, venison, quail, tripe, with vegetables of various kinds, and seasoned with garlic; stewed beef with chile Colorado (red pepper); tomales, which were made of chicken, meat, olives and chile Colorado rolled in a thin paste of corn meal, the whole being covered with corn leaves tied at either end, and baked in an oven; carne seco (dried beef) cut fine and stewed with onions and manteca (beef