the abode of the _celestials_, if the
interpretation of the name of the place could be considered as
indicative of the character of its population, and drenched with rain
and plastered with mud, we entered the "City of the Angels," and
marched through its principal street to our temporary quarters. We
found the town, as we expected, in the possession of the United States
naval and military forces under the command of Commodore Stockton and
General Kearny, who, after two engagements with six hundred mounted
Californians on the 8th and 9th, had marched into the city on the 10th.
The town was almost entirely deserted by its inhabitants, and most of
the houses, except those belonging to foreigners, or occupied as
quarters for the troops, were closed. I met here many of the naval
officers whose agreeable acquaintance I had made at San Francisco.
Among others were Lieutenants Thompson, Hunter, Gray and Rhenshaw, and
Captain Zeilin of the marines, all of whom had marched from San Diego.
Distance 12 miles.

CHAPTER XII.

City of Angels
Gardens
Vineyards
Produce of the vine in California
General products of the country
Reputed personal charms of the females of Los Angeles
San Diego
Gold and quicksilver mines
Lower California
Bituminous springs
Wines
A Kentuckian among the angels
Missions of San Gabriel and San Luis Rey
Gen. Kearny and Com. Stockton leave for San Diego
Col. Fremont appointed Governor of California by Com. Stockton
Com. Shubrick's arrival
Insurrection in the northern part of California suppressed
Arrival of Col. Cooke at San Diego.

La Ciudad de los Angeles is the largest town in California, containing
between fifteen hundred and two thousand inhabitants. Its streets are
laid out without any regard to regularity. The buildings are generally
constructed of adobes one and two stories high, with flat roofs. The
public buildings are a church, quartel, and government house. Some of
the dwelling-houses are frames, and large. Few of them, interiorly or
exteriorly, have any pretensions to architectural taste, finish, or
convenience of plan and arrangement. The town is situated about 20 miles
from the ocean, in a extensive undulating plain, bounded on the north
by a ridge of elevated hills, on the east by high mountains whose
summits are now covered with snow, on the west by the ocean, and
stretching to the south and the south-east as far as the eye can reach.
The Ri