--Clear, with a delightful temperature. Before the sun
rose the grass was covered with a white frost. The day throughout has
been calm and beautiful. A march of four miles brought us to the shore
of a small indentation in the coast of the Pacific, where vessels can
anchor, and boats can land when the wind is not too fresh. The surf is
now rolling and foaming with prodigious energy--breaking upon the beach
in long lines one behind the other, and striking the shore like
cataracts. The hills and plains are verdant with a carpet of fresh
grass, and the scattered live-oaks on all sides, appearing like
orchards of fruit-trees, give to the country an old and cultivated
aspect. The mountains bench away on our left, the low hills rising in
gentle conical forms, beyond which are the more elevated and
precipitous peaks covered with snow. We encamped about three o'clock
near the rancho of Captain Dana, in a large and handsome valley well
watered by an _arroyo_.
Captain Dana is a native of Massachusetts, and has resided in this
country about thirty years. He is known and esteemed throughout
California for his intelligence and private virtues, and his unbounded
generosity and hospitality.
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