arks, decked and brilliant with a carpeting of
rich grasses and flowers, shaded by noble clusters of wide-spreading
oaks, all entirely free from undergrowth.

The town of Monterey, if it could be dignified by the title, we found a
mean, irregular collection of mud huts, and long, low, adobie dwellings,
strewn promiscuously over an easy slope, down to the water's edge. The
most conspicuous was the _duana_--Custom House--a spacious frame
building near the landing, which unquestionably had in times past been
the means of yielding immense revenues to the Mexican exchequer, but now
its roomy store-houses were empty and silent. Neither men nor
merchandise disturbed its quiet precincts. Notwithstanding the rain,
numbers of us resolved to dare the moisture, and I, for one, would wade
about on land, up to my neck in water, at any time to get quit of a ship
after forty days aquatic recreation; but here there was no resisting the
gratefully green appearance of the shores around us: we were soon stowed
in a boat--the oars dipped smart and strong in the water, and we went
merrily towards the land. Indeed I have invariably observed that
men-of-war's men are wont to use their arms with much vigor, on first
pulling on shore in a strange port; a physical characteristic which I am
led to attribute to a desire on their part to test the virtues of any
liquid compounds to be met with in the abodes of hospitable publicans.
The anchorage was barely half a mile from the shore, and in a few
minutes we disembarked at a little pier, that only partially served to
check the rolling swell from seaward; but what's a wet foot in a fit of
enthusiasm, or a heavy shower! Nothing, certainly, so we scrambled up
the slimy steps, and while on the point of giving a yell of delight, to
announce our arrival in California, my pedal extremities flew upwards
and down I sank, making a full length _intaglio_ in the yielding
mud--this was my first impression, but after getting decently scraped by
Jack's knives, I became less excitable, and took intense delight during
the course of the afternoon, in beholding my companions going through
precisely the same performances. By cautious navigation we reached the
main street, then our progress was dreadfully slow and laborious. The
mud--a sticky, red pigment, lay six good inches on the dryest level, and
at every step our feet were disengaged by a powerful jerk, and a deep,
gutteral noise from the slippy holes; occasionally, t