ncisco are extensive, and with little trouble I believe they could
be reclaimed and transformed into valuable and productive rice
plantations. Having made our supper on raw salt pork and bread
generously furnished by the sailors, as soon as we landed, we spread
our blankets on the damp and rank vegetation and slept soundly until
morning.

_October 14_.--Wind and tide being favourable, at daylight we proceeded
up the serpentine creek, which winds through a flat and fertile plain,
sometimes marshy, at others more elevated and dry, to the
_embarcadero_, ten or twelve miles from the bay. We landed here between
nine and ten o'clock, A.M. All the passengers, except ourselves,
proceeded immediately to the town. By them we sent for a cart to
transport our saddles, bridles, blankets, and other baggage, which we
had brought with us. While some of the sailors were preparing
breakfast, others, with their muskets, shot wild geese, with which the
plain was covered. An excellent breakfast was prepared in a short time
by our sailor companions, of which we partook with them. No benevolent
old gentleman provides more bountifully for his servants than "Uncle
Sam." These sailors, from the regular rations served out to them from
their ship, gave an excellent breakfast, of bread, butter, coffee, tea,
fresh beefsteaks, fried salt pork, cheese, pickles, and a variety of
other delicacies, to which we had been unaccustomed for several months,
and which cannot be obtained at present in this country. They all said
that their rations were more than ample in quantity, and excellent in
quality, and that no government was so generous in supplying its
sailors as the government of the United States. They appeared to be
happy, and contented with their condition and service, and animated
with a patriotic pride for the honour of their country, and the flag
under which they sailed. The open frankness and honest patriotism of
these single-hearted and weather-beaten tars gave a spice and flavour
to our entertainment which I shall not soon forget.

From the _embarcadero_ we walked, under the influence of the rays of an
almost broiling sun, four miles to the town of Sonoma. The plain, which
lies between the landing and Sonoma, is timbered sparsely with
evergreen oaks. The luxuriant grass is now brown and crisp. The hills
surrounding this beautiful valley or plain are gentle, sloping, highly
picturesque, and covered to their tops with wild oats. Reaching Sonoma