e mansion was somewhat marred;
consequently the boy was left to thrive upon his own resources.
Sometimes the old lady endeavored to detain him from accompanying me,
but I threatened to stop her grog, by reporting her conduct to the grave
and reverend alcalde of the place, and thenceforth she contented herself
by extorting a few rials from her child's store, at my expense.

On passing the hut on the outskirts of the town and giving a shrill
whistle, out sprang Juaquinito, with his little black head and sparkling
eyes shoved through the slit of his _serapa_, swinging the lasso in
steady circles, and noosing his horse in the corral, the next moment
would leap on his back, take the carbine or rifle, and off we sallied.
At night we made fire, ate broiled partridges without stint, and slept
under the same blanket. One of our excursions was to the river and
plains of Salinas, about fifteen miles in a northerly direction, along
the shores of the bay. These plains vary from ten to twenty miles in
width, and extend fifty or sixty into the interior, and like the great
plain of Santa Clara, have evidently at some former period been the
beds of large lakes or rivers. The Salinas is walled in by compact
ridges of mountains running transversely towards the ocean, from the
main Sierra Madre of California. The river is a muddy rapid stream,
subjected to heavy freshets during the melting of the upland snows, and
coursing close along the southern edge of the plains. On approaching the
heights above the plain, I suddenly checked the reins, perfectly
transfixed with surprise; for never in my life had I beheld such a
magnificent vista of its kind; one broad dead level extending far as the
eye could compass, like a solid brilliant sea of grass and flowers,
dotted here and there by vast flocks of sheep and cattle, with the
margins of the stream marked out for many a league, with fringes of
drooping willows. Descending the hill, we swam the river, and after a
short ride along the verge of the plain, came to the _molino_--mill--and
rancho of one Bill Anderson, who, with his head powdered by flour, like
a lord of the olden time, received me cordially, and being furnished
with fresh horses, away we started to slaughter wild geese. They were
congregated in myriads, both white and grey, feeding on the rich short
grasses, and when disturbed, the noise of their wings and throats was
truly deafening--they were excessively shy, and finding even buck-shot