They
have been accused of treachery and insincerity. Whatever may have been
the grounds for these accusations in particular instances, I know not;
but, judging from my own observation and experience, they are as free
from these qualities as our own people.
While the men are employed in attending to the herds of cattle and
horses, and engaged in their other amusements, the women (I speak of
the middle classes on the ranchos) superintend and perform most of the
drudgery appertaining to housekeeping, and the cultivation of the
gardens, from whence are drawn such vegetables as are consumed at the
table. These are few, consisting of _frijoles_, potatoes, onions, and
_chiles_. The assistants in these labours are the Indian men and women,
legally reduced to servitude.
The soil of that portion of California between the Sierra Nevada and
the Pacific will compare, in point of fertility, with any that I have
seen elsewhere. As I have already described such portions of it as have
come under my observation, it is unnecessary for me here to descend to
particulars. Wheat, barley, and other small grains, with hemp, flax,
and tobacco, can be produced in all the valleys, without irrigation.
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