dation of his establishment of New Helvetia in the midst of the savages on the banks of the Sacramento river. He said that Sutter had, at first, been obliged to defend himself with only eight men, for the reason that Vallejo, the comandante at Sonoma, had refused to afford him any assistance; but that he had gradually managed to attract about him some three hundred Indians, who lived in community at his establishment, and were devoted to him; that he had established a primary school among them; that he had accomplished a great deal of good in putting down bands of horse-thieves, who vexed the rancheros of the country, and that the department was indebted to him for much of the tranquillity it enjoyed. In conclusion, he assured the government that the department had no cause to regret its concession to Sutter, and that if, as seemed to be the case, Vallejo was attempting to injure him by prej udicial complaints, it was entirely on personal grounds and with no authority to speak for any one but himself.

At the same time, and in connection with Sutter, Alvarado wrote to the government that the clandestine ingression of American adventurers into the country was becoming sericus, and that the department, on account of the weakness of its forces, was unable to prevent their coming. He said that a company of thirty armed men had recently arrived from Missouri; that thirty others had gone to the Columbia river; and he learned that there were two hundred more ready to start from the western United States for the Pacific coast. The prefect of the second district had informed him that another com pany of one hundred and sixty were on their way from New Mexico, although as to these it was said they had passports. He proceeded to say that he had directed Lieutenant-colonel José Castro, the prefect of the first district, to proceed with a force of volunteers, and look after the first mentioned company; but it was plain to be seen that, if the supreme government did not reënforce the department with a couple of hundred soldiers and the necessary pecuniary resources, it would be likely to have the same fate as

Texas had had. He was of opinion that, with the small assistance he suggested, and the probability of thereby being able to sustain the enthusiasm of the people, he might be able to restrain the ambition of the adventurers; but, otherwise, it was doubtful whether the integrity of the Mexican territory and the good name of the nation in California could be preserved.

The supreme government at Mexico, as has been already explained, was not in a condition to afford any effective help to California. It was, however, very well aware of the truth of Alvarado's statements and of the danger threatened by the Americans. As early as May, 1840, various articles had appeared in influential American newspapers at Washington, as to the importance to the United States of acquiring the Californias, and were transmitted by the Mexican minister to Mexico. In one of these articles mention had been made of the Missouri company of emigrants, which proposed to start for the Pacific in May, 1841, and to the arrival of which attention had been called by Alvarado, as has been seen in his letter. It was true that the professions of the Missouri company were peaceful and friendly; but could they be trusted? It was very doubtful, thought the government. Similar professions had been made by the colony of Americans in Texas, and yet, in a short space of time, they had unfurled the banner of rebellion with lamentable consequences to the Mexican nation. In view of all the circumstances, the government urged upon Alvarado the necessity of adopting means to protect the department, and suggested a strict enforcement of the laws against foreigners, and an especially vigilant guard over the ports of the country. But it sent no succor. In other words, it deplored the condition of affairs; but it was powerless to help them.

But while the Americans were thus beginning to pour with ever-increasing streams through the defiles of the mountains, the Russians on the coast were beginning to fold their tents and pass away. They had never manifested any special designs of per

manently settling in the country, further than was indicated by their building Fort Ross, founding a few farms in the neighborhood of Bodega, and establishing a few fishing and trading posts at San Francisco, the Farallones Islands, and between there and Fort Ross. But they had done a very large business in their hunting and fishing boats, collecting as many as eighty thousand seal skins at the Farallones in a single season, penetrating all the bays and creeks, and gathering immense quantities of beaver, otter, and other furs. They had been good customers for California wheat and grain, for beef, suet, and fat, for dried meat and some salt; and, notwithstanding the jealousies of the supreme government and of a few narrow-minded Californians, the general public opinion had recognized them as not undesirable neighbors. During recent years, such men as Father Gutierrez would once in a while come out in a flaming manifesto against them; but they had little effect upon the people in general, and the Russians did not mind them or feel in the least disturbed. Their comandante was more comfortably fixed at Ross than even the governor at Monterey. He had fine quarters, fine furniture, a fine library, a fine pianoforte, Mozart's music, French wines, and, in fact, nearly everything to make residence there pleasant; while his subordinates, about eight hundred in number, plied their vocations in every direction, in total indifference to what was said about them.

But, at length, the fur seals, the otters, the beavers, and other game became scarce; other customers, and particularly New England merchants, opened new markets for Californian products; and the Russians began to find that their establishments in California, though otherwise in good condition, were no longer remunerative. One of their last projects had been the putting up of a warehouse at San Francisco, for which Pedro Kostromitinoff, the comandante of Ross, procured the license of the governor in 1836; but even by that time the hunting and trade, for which they sought the country, had much slackened, and year by year grew worse and worse for them.

On November 23, 1840, Colonel Koupreanoff, ex-governor of Russian America, then at San Francisco, addressed a note to Alvarado, announcing that the Russians were about abandoning Ross and all their other establishments in the country. This information being transmitted to Mexico, an order came back that Alvarado should take possession and, if practicable, turn them into Mexican establishments. The withdrawal of the hunters and fishermen commenced almost immediately, and every voyage of a Russian vessel northward carried off more or fewer of them. On July 27, 1841, Vallejo wrote to Alvarado from Sonoma, that Kostromitinoff was at his house with the object of negotiating terms of final evacuation. The occasion furnished Vallejo an opportunity for a patriotic outburst. At length, he wrote, were the national colors again to flutter in glorious triumph where a foreign flag had flaunted for twenty-five long years. Soon was the imperial eagle to give up the field to that of the republic, which was now again about to soar aloft and spread its protecting pinions over this fair portion of the national soil, so long and so wrongly withheld. But he did not wish to boast. On the contrary, he wished to repress the pride and vainglory which naturally arose in his breast in contemplating his own coöperation in bringing about this auspicious result. He would therefore only say that simple duty had demanded of him all that had been accomplished, and that, in fact, he had done no more than comply with the innate obligation of every Mexican to contribute to the glory of his country!

This letter was followed by another from the same writer in August. In this he informed Alvarado that in the negotiations which he had attempted to carry on with Kostromitinoff, he had claimed and insisted that the houses at Ross, as they had been built on Mexican soil and with Mexican timber, belonged to Mexico, and were not to be considered as in any sense belonging to any one else; but that the impracticable Russian, who had managed in some irregular manner to ascertain the nature of recent orders from Mexico, had refused to treat upon

that basis, and had expressed a determina tion to visit Monterey and negotiate with the governor personally. Vallejo, in conclusion, did not deem it necessary to communicate at any length his own views upon the subject, being satisfied that his Excellency was persuaded, like himself, that the Mexican nation could not, without loss of dignity, consent to purchase or pay for what already incontestably belonged to it.

The result was, that the negotiations with Vallejo were broken off, and afterwards a contract was entered into between the Russians and Sutter, by the terms of which the latter agreed to purchase all the Russian property for about thirty-one thousand dollars. Though Sutter had no money to pay with, he was placed in possession of the property, and exercised acts of dominion over it. Subsequently an arrangement was made, by which the departmental government agreed to assume the debt of Sutter, and the Russians to cede to it all their rights against Sutter and all their rights of property. Meanwhile, on January 1st, 1842, the final evacuation took place, and the Russians as a body abandoned the country. On January 2d, Alvarado transmitted information of their departure to the supreme government; and soon afterwards he wrote that he had recommended to Vallejo to detail a company of troops to raise the Mexican flag over Ross, but that, on account of the department being in such great distress as it was for want of military resources, it would be impossible to maintain any large or regular force there.

And thus ended the occupation of the Russians in California. They left a few buildings, since gone to decay, a few graves, and a few names, such as Ross and Mount St. Helena. But most even of their names have passed away and are forgotten. The beautiful stream, now known as Russian River, called by the old Californians the San Sebastian, was by the Russians named and known as the Slawianska. Bodega they called Romanzoff, and the stream southeast of Bodega, now known as the Estero Americano, the Avatcha. Their principal farms were

called respectively, Kostromitinoff, Vasili, Klebnikoff, and Don Jorge Tochernik. Nature, as well as man, has assisted in destroying the evidences of their twenty-five years of sojourn. On the mountain back of Ross, within a mile or two of their crumbling blockhouses and church, where they cut their timber and where huge stumps still attest their labors, a new growth of trees has sprung up, almost as large as when the Russians first invaded the primeval forest. In a very few years nothing will remain in all the places they once occupied to remind one of their former presence in the country.

Among the various foreigners who were in California in these comparatively early times, were three, Dana, Robinson, and De Mofras, who wrote books of their observations and experiences; and it is from them that most of the reliable information in reference to the social life of the old Californians has to be derived. The Californians themselves, as a rule, were not educated, and those who could write were not authors. In recent years Alvarado wrote a series of interesting historical sketches of the early part of the century, and Antonio Maria Osio wrote a somewhat more connected account of political events from about 1825 to the American occupation. Both were written in Spanish, and exist only in manuscript. Vallejo and others have also written at greater or less length, but published nothing worthy of attention. The most important writings of the old Californians, however, consist of the of ficial records and correspondence and the political, military, and ecclesiastical documents irregularly scattered among the collection of some two hundred and fifty thousand pages of Spanish manuscript, usually known as the California Archives. Of private letters and papers, few of any importance remain.

The first good American book relating to California was the personal narrative of Richard Henry Dana, entitled “Two Years before the Mast." Dana was an undergraduate of Harvard College, and undertook a voyage to California as a common sailor, for the pur

pose, mainly, by an entire change of life, long absence from books, hard work, plain food, and open air, to cure an affection of his eyes. He shipped in the bark "Pilgrim" from Boston, and sighted Point Conception, after a voyage of one hundred and fifty days around Cape Horn, in January, 1835. The vessel carried out what was called an assorted cargo, consisting of liquors of all kinds, cof fee, tea, sugar, molasses, raisins, spices, hardware, tin-ware, crockery, cutlery, clothing, boots and shoes, calicoes, cottons, silks, crapes, shawls, scarfs, jewelry, combs, furniture, and, as Dana says, "everything that could be imagined from Chinese fireworks to English cartwheels." The object of the voyage was to dispose of these goods, and return with their proceeds in the shape of hides and tallow. The vessel was what was known as a "hide-drogher," one of a number engaged in the business of purchasing hides and tallow from the missions, and carrying them to be made use of in manufactories in the United States. The import of assorted cargoes, and the export of hides and tallow, had become a great trade, and constituted the chief commerce of the country down to 1849.

It became a part of Dana's business, while in California, as one of the common sailors of his vessel, to visit the various points along the coast and collect hides. This was no easy matter. The hides, when taken from the animals, were staked out on the ground, so as to dry in the sun without shrinking. They were then folded once, lengthwise, with the hair on the inside, and in this form sent down to the beach and piled up above high-water mark, ready for shipment. There were no wharves in those days, and few places where the surf was not rough even in the calmest weather. For this reason, far from the vessel being able to approach the shore, even the boats had to be anchored outside of the surf, and the hides to be carried to them through the breaking waves by the sailors. As they had to be kept dry, it was found that the only safe and convenient method was to carry them one by one on the head; and it required considerable strength and skill, particularly when the sea was rough

and a stiff breeze blowing, to do so successfully. The sailors provided themselves with thick Scotch bonnets to protect their heads, but had to go barefooted, as shoes could not stand the constant soaking in salt water that was necessary. It was, altogether, a wet, hard, and disagreeable occupation, especially where the beach was stony; but in time the student got used to it and became an expert in "tossing a hide," as it was termed. He remained in the country nearly two years, and, though his observations were confined chiefly to the ports and embarcaderos and the people he met there, he had an open eye and a facile pen, and furnished an exceedingly agreeable and interesting account of what he saw. So far as his opportunities extended, he gave all possible information, and in a style always graphic and sometimes splendid.

But he had but little intercourse with the prominent people, and, not being familiar with their language, could not converse freely even with those he met. While no one could describe better what he saw, there were many things in the life and manners of the Californians which he had no opportunity of seeing. His book was first published at Boston, in 1840.

The next American who wrote a book relating to the subject was Alfred Robinson. His account was also a personal narrative, under the title of "Life in California." He left Boston as a young mercantile clerk on a trading voyage, in 1828, and reached Monterey in February, 1829. His business required him to travel about the country and become thoroughly acquainted with all classes of the people, high as well as low. The Spanish became familiar to him. In the course of a few years, he married a daughter of José de la Guerra y Noriega of Santa Barbara, and settled in the country permanently. When Dana's book came out there were various observations made in it, in reference particularly to the California women, which Robinson considered unjust ; and it was as much to show that Dana's remarks were too sweeping as for any other purpose, that Robinson wrote. His plan was not to criticise Dana, or polemically dispute

what he had said, but to give a full and minute account of his own observations and experiences during his residence from 1829 to about 1846, when his book was published in New York. As an appendix to it, he published a translation of Father Geronimo Boscana's work on the Indians, called "Chinigchinick."

Robinson's family relations, business as a prominent merchant, and long residence, gave him in ample measure the opportunities of information and knowledge which Dana lacked. He was somewhat more straightforward and business-like in his narrative, apparently looking at things with older eyes, but also able as a writer, having large perceptive faculties and a clear, forcible, and pleasant style. His powers of description were good; and he furnished many admirable sketches of various old California people and of scenes which he witnessed and in some of which he took part. It cannot be said that either Dana or Robinson wrote with scientific precision; neither of them attempted to give a complete description of the country; and while Dana was perhaps more or less prepossessed as a New England American against the Mexican character, Robinson was to some extent influenced by the political and social feelings of that particular class and caste of the community into which he married. But both wrote excellent books of their kind.

The most complete book of those days upon the subject of California, however, was that of Duflot de Mofras. He was a French gentleman of learning and culture, attached to the French legation in Mexico, and was commissioned by his government to make a scientific exploration of and report upon the Californias and Oregon, and especially upon their ports and harbors. A passport was issued, for the purpose of enabling him to travel with perfect freedom, by the Mexican government, in May, 1840. He sailed by the way of San Blas, Mazatlan, and Guaymas, and thence, doubling Cape San Lucas, up the coast; and he spent several years in his work. He visited all the points of interest, traveled from place to place, made surveys

and observations, examined the country, consulted old books, rummaged among the records, studied the institutions, observed the occupations, character, manners, customs, and daily life of the people of all classes, talked with the governors, military men, priests, and, in fact, every one who had anything of importance to impart, and gathered information of all kinds and upon all subjects connected with his work. In this way he amassed a great amount of matter, out of which he had the skill and judgment to select and arrange a work of marked literary ability, giving a very complete and generally accurate account, not only of the existing condition, but of the main features of the history of the country, with numerous and elaborate maps and charts. The book was written in French, and published by order of the French government at Paris, in 1844. It was entitled "Exploration du Territoire de l'Oregon, des Californies, et de la Mer Vermeille, executeé pendant les anneês 1840, 1841, et 1842. Exploration of the Territory of the Oregon, of the Californias, and of the Vermilion Sea, executed during the years 1840, 1841, and 1842."

It would be difficult to find a more complete account of any comparatively unknown country, made out by order of a foreign government, and containing more varied and valuable information in relation to it, than this work of Duflot de Mofras. It was intended to place France in possession of all that was then known about the northwest coast of America; and it did so most thoroughly. It was not designed as a history; but still it gave more historical information than any other work of the time. The geography, the geology, the topography, the botany and natural history, the meteorology, the agriculture, manufactures, and commerce, the business done and amusements pursued, the work of the missionaries and the results of secularization, the Indians and their manners, habits, character, and condition, and, in fact, nearly everything that anybody had known or knew about the region, was treated of in plain, clear, and forcible language. Considering the circumstances under which the book was