Nearly all the fruits of the temperate and tropical climates
are produced in perfection in California, as has before been stated.
The principal product of the country has been its cattle and horses.
The cattle are, I think, the largest and finest I ever saw, and the
beef is more delicious. There are immense herds of these, to which I
have previously referred; and their hides and tallow, when slaughtered,
have hitherto composed the principal exports from the country. If I
were to hazard an estimate of the number of hides annually exported, it
would be conjectural, and not worth much. I would suppose, however, at
this time (1847), that the number would not fall much short of 150,000,
and a corresponding number of arrobas (25 pounds) of tallow. The
average value of cattle is about five dollars per head.
The horses and mules are correspondingly numerous with the cattle; and
although the most of them are used in the country, considerable numbers
are driven to Sonora, New Mexico, and other southern provinces, and
some of them to the United States, for a market. They are smaller than
American horses, and I do not think them equal for continuous hard
service; but on short trips, for riding, their speed and endurance are
not often, if ever, equalled by our breed of horses.
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