e. In several places we saw little
cylindrically-shaped huts of underwood, which appeared to have been
recently quitted by Indians, and sometimes we even found the still
glimmering embers of a fire; it is therefore probable that the savages
were often close to us when we were not aware of it; but they always
took care to conceal themselves from the much dreaded dragoons and their
lassos.

In the evening we reached a little mountain brook, which, after winding
through a ravine, falls into the sea at Port Romanzow, or Bodega. It was
already dark, and though but ten miles distance from Ross, we were
obliged to pass the chill and foggy night not very agreeably on this
spot. In the morning we forded the shallow stream, and as we proceeded,
found in the bold, wild features of the scene a striking difference from
the smiling valleys through which we had travelled on the preceding day.
The nearer we drew to the coast, the more abrupt became the precipices
and the higher the rocks, which were overgrown with larch even to their
peaked summits.

We wound round the bases of some hills, and having with much fatigue
climbed other very steep ascents, reached towards noon a considerable
height, which rewarded us with a magnificent prospect. Amongst the
remarkable objects before us, the ocean stretched to the west, with the
harbour of Romanzow, which unfortunately will only afford admission to
small vessels; the Russian settlement here, can therefore never be as
prosperous as it might have been, had circumstances permitted its
establishment on the bay of St. Francisco. To the east, extending far
inland, lay a valley, called by the Indians the Valley of the White Men.
There is a tradition among them, that a ship was once wrecked on this
coast; that the white men chose this valley for their residence, and
lived there in great harmony with the Indians. What afterwards became of
them is not recorded. On the north-east was a high mountain thickly
covered with fir trees, from amongst which rose dark columns of smoke,
giving evidence of Indian habitations. Our soldiers said that it was the
abode of a chief and his tribe, whose valour had won the respect of the
Spaniards; that they were of a distinct class from the common race of
Indians; had fixed their dwellings on this mountain on account of its
supposed inaccessibility; were distinguished for their courage, and
preferred death to the dominion of the Missionaries, into whose power no
one o