The grasses grow through the entire winter, and
most of them mature by the first of May. The season for sowing wheat
commences as soon as the ground is sufficiently softened by moisture to
admit of ploughing, and continues until March or April.
We had made preparations this morning to visit a rancho, belonging to
General Vallejo, in company with the general and Mr. Larkin. This
rancho contains about eleven leagues of land, bordering upon a portion
of the Bay of San Francisco, twenty-five or thirty miles distant from
Sonoma. Just as we were about mounting our horses, however, a courier
arrived from San Francisco with despatches from Captain Montgomery,
addressed to Lieutenant Revere, the military commandant at this post,
giving such intelligence in regard to the insurrection at the south,
that we determined to return to San Francisco forthwith. Procuring
horses, and accompanied by Mr. Larkin, we left Sonoma about two o'clock
in the afternoon, riding at the usual California speed. After leaving
Sonoma plain we crossed a ridge of hills, and entered the fertile and
picturesque valley of Petaluma creek, which empties into the bay.
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