t unlike a small keel-boat. The buoyancy of one of these
craft is surprising. Six men, as many as could sit upon the deck, were
passed over, in the largest of our three boats, at a time. The boats
were towed backwards and forwards by Indian swimmers--one at the bow,
and one at the stern as steersman, and two on each side as propellers.
The poor fellows, when they came out of the cold water, trembled as if
attacked with an ague. We encamped near the house of Mr. Livermore
(previously described), where, after considerable difficulty, I
obtained sufficient beef for supper, Mr. L. being absent. Most of the
Indians did not get into camp until a late hour of the night, and some
of them not until morning. They complained very much of sore feet, and
wanted horses to ride, which I promised them as soon as they reached
the Pueblo de San Jose.
About ten o'clock on the morning of the 20th, we slaughtered a beef in
the hills between Mr. Livermore's and the mission of San Jose; and,
leaving the hungry party to regale themselves upon it and then follow
on, I proceeded immediately to the Pueblo de San Jose to make further
arrangements, reaching that place just after sunset. On the 21st I
procured clothing for the Indians, which, when they arrived with Mr.
Jacob in the afternoon, was distributed among them.
On my arrival at the Pueblo, I found the American population there much
excited by intelligence just received of the capture on the 15th,
between Monterey and the mission of San Juan, of Thos. O. Larkin, Esq.,
late U.S. Consul in California, by a party of Californians, and of an
engagement between the same Californians and a party of Americans
escorting a _caballada_ of 400 horses to Colonel Fremont's camp in
Monterey. In this affair three Americans were killed, viz.: Capt.
Burroughs, Capt. Foster, and Mr. Eames, late of St. Louis, Mo. The
mission of San Juan lies on the road between the Pueblo de San Jose and
Monterey, about fifty miles from the former place, and thirty from the
latter. The skirmish took place ten miles south of San Juan, near the
Monterey road. I extract the following account of this affair from a
journal of his captivity published by Mr. Larkin:--
"On the 10th of November, from information received of the sickness of
my family in San Francisco, where they had gone to escape the expected
revolutionary troubles in Monterey, and from letters from Captain
Montgomery requesting my presence respecting some stores f
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