PAYMASTER RICH'S LETTER.

255

This state of

terms of service were drawing to a close.* things is not confined to California alone. Oregon is fast depopulating; her inhabitants pour into the gold diggings, and foreign residents and runaway sailors from the Sandwich Islands are arriving by every vessel that approaches this coast.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

THOS. AP C. JONES, Commander-in-Chief Pacific Squadron.

Hon. J. Y. MASON, Secretary of the Navy.

MONTEREY, California, October 23, 1848.

GENERAL: I arrived here on the eighteenth instant, from San Diego, and have paid the four companies of the first New York regiment in full, and they have all started for the gold mines. The three companies composing the command of Lieutenant Colonel Burton are now here, and will be mustered out to-day or to-morrow, and paid by Major Hill immediately, as the residents are extremely anxious to get rid of them; they have the place in their power. Nearly all the men of company "F," third artillery, have deserted.

We have the Ohio, Warren, Dale, Lexington and Southampton in port; but they cannot land a man, as they desert as soon as they set foot on shore. The only thing the ships could do, in case of an outbreak, would be to fire upon the town. The volunteers at Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, &c., behaved very well-no murmuring or difficulties of any kind with them. They complained that they were not allowed travelling allowance.

The funds from Mazatlan have at last reached here; the amount is one hundred and thirty thousand dollars. It ar

* Our ships are all short of their complements; the Ohio is one hundred and forty-five short. We can spare no more to our merchantmen.

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rived very opportunely, as we have expended nearly all we had. The amount is a great deal more than will be required, as there are at present but two companies in California-one of first dragoons, the other of third artillery; the latter reduced to a mere skeleton by desertion, and the former in a fair way to share the same fate. I should suppose twenty thousand dollars would be sufficient to pay the present force (provided the companies are filled up) for a year. Treasury notes are good for nothing now; bills on the United States could not be negociated on any terms. Gold dust can be purchased for eight or ten dollars the ounce, and it is said to be worth eighteen dollars in the United States; consequently, all remittances are made in it.

Colonel Mason, and most of the army officers, are at Fort Sutter. Commodore Jones thinks it would be very imprudent to bring the public funds on shore, except in such sums as may be required for immediate use. He does not like to leave a ship here, on account of the difficulty of keeping the men.

The gold fever rages as bad as ever, and the quantity collected has not diminished, but increased. Provisions, clothing, and all the necessaries of life, are at most exorbitant prices. Living was always expensive in this country, but now it passes all reason-board four dollars per day, washing five dollars to six dollars per dozen. Merchants' clerks are receiving from one thousand eight hundred dollars to three thousand dollars per annum salary! What the Government will do for civil officers, I do not know. Salaries will have to correspond with the times. The pay of governors, judges, &c., as allowed in the United States, will hardly compare with that paid to salesmen and shop clerks here. I am, sir, respectfully,

Your obedient servant,

WILLIAM RICH, A. P. U. A.

Gen. N. TowSON, Paymaster Gen. U. U A.,

Washington, D. C.

CHAPTER XX.

The Wild Animals, Game and Fishes of California.

If I were to attempt to tell all I know about the beasts, birds, and fishes of California, this volume would be swelled to more portly dimensions than I think advisable. I shall therefore confine myself to a few salient points, and leave a vast amount of details to the imagination.

And while I think of it, I will remark, that there are no buffaloes in California west of the Sierra Nevada, and the chances are that the "Buffalo Platform" is wholly unknown to the rancheros.

The buffalo being out of the question, it follows that the GRIZZLY BEAR holds beyond dispute, the foremost rank among the wild animals of California. He is the largest and by far the most powerful of all the wild beasts, and some idea of his prowess may be gathered from the earlier chapters of this book. He inhabits every part of Upper California, but if he lives in the Lower Province he keeps very dark about it, and confines himself to the mountains. He sometimes commits great havoc among the cattle, his plan of operations being to roll himself up in a ball, and then, like an eminent statesman, to "set the ball in motion, solitary and alone." He selects for this pastime an open meadow, and while engaged in this ground tumbling he cuts up all kinds of monkey-shines. He well understands the failings of the cattle, who are as curious as mother Eve, and will rush from all parts of the rancho to see the fun. In this 257

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THE GRIZZLY BEAR.

he resembles the sportsmen of the Chesapeake, who train a little spaniel to toll the wild ducks in a similar manner. This curiosity to see what is going on is not confined to cattle, but is shared by antelopes, elk, and deer, who are easily attracted by a handkerchief flying from a ramrod. Well, the cattle will surround the bear in a wondering and gaping circle, until Cuffee-who is all the while laughing in his paw at their simplicity-seizes upon the first fat cow that comes within the grasp of his terrible claws, and, revealing himself in his true character, walks off with his prize, who thus pays the expense of the performance. Various other shifts and devices are resorted to by the bear to get hold of cattle, and he sometimes waylays them when on their way to the "rodea." An American of my acquaintance told me, that he received from the Administrador twenty cows as a fee for shooting an old bear of huge size, which had infested or invested the Mission of San Juan for many years. He had frequently been noosed, but was too cunning in the fore-paw to be caught in that only fatal part, managing with great dexterity to ward off the riata from it.

The hunters say, that a pregnant she bear was never yet killed, the animal, when in that delicate situation, retiring to a secret den, where she is carefully attended by the male until an addition is made to her interesting family.

I have been present at the slaughter of three other bears besides those I have before alluded to, but they did not show fight. They tried hard to get to cover, and it is when concealed in the undergrowth that they are most dangerous to approach. A fine youth of my acquaintance was killed by a bear near Bodega. The bear, being mortally wounded, retired to cover, and was followed by the young man, against the advice and remonstrances of friends, armed only with his pistols. Ere he was aware of his danger, the bear sprang upon him, and literally tore him to pieces.

The grizzly bear will not, as a general rule, seek man to attack him, nor will he shun those who do not molest him;

but if the male be surprised under peculiar circumstances, or if the female be encountered while her cubs are with her, the animal is dangerous, and will pursue a man, especially if the intruder inflict a wound. It would seem that bears are so accustomed to being avoided by other animals, that they think man should avoid them also. They have not the destructive propensities of the feline race, and there are numerous instances where they have spared men who have fallen into their power, letting them off with a few scratches, and much bodily fear. This trait is a fortunate one; for if to their terrible strength and scythe-like claws they united the cruel ferocity of the tiger, they would be formidable indeed. The only animal they dread is the little "sorillo," known in our vernacular by the monosyllable skunk, and it must be confessed, that this aversion is creditable to the taste of the bears, and will meet with universal sympathy. Indeed, so strong is Cuffee's antipathy to this small animal, that if the fragrant guest approach while the grizzly gentleman is discussing his favorite meal of a long-buried carcass-which he has stowed away himself for the sake of the "fumet"-the latter will retreat from his dainty repast with a reluctant growl, while master Sorillo quietly takes his place. And yet this huge animal, with a refined taste, does not disdain to hunt and devour small field mice among the tulé, and the carcass of a whale, thrown upon the beach, will attract a regiment of bears.

An old hunter once took me several miles out of our way to a retired spot on the summit of a mountain, where he assured me the bears were accustomed to resort for the purpose of dancing. There was an old and gigantic pine, around whose base a slight hollow was regularly excavated, and the bark of the tree was completely scratched off some distance up, and the wood itself was deeply scarred. My friend assured me, that he had seen in this place a collection of bears, and had carefully approached them, keeping him