Star of the Kanawha Valley. [volume] (Buffalo, Va. [W. Va.]) 1855-1856, 1855-12-05

init. Thus hill after ELL you climb
over, pursuing an castsrly direction
until within about ten miles distant
from where you cross Carmel river,
near the Mission, and some fourteen
rom Montery, you reach the place
where the scene Of our narrative 10 laid
D description Of which place we deem
expedient to furnish frem the follow.
ing letter which we insert, and which
contaihs subject nattes sufficient to
form . chapter Of itself.
|. >~ CHAPTER III. ( al. 4:
80. s. CAsALLADA, Alta California;
N, Fet. 26th, 49,
Dear Frend:-Igot your Christ.
mne ietter from the Office OF Monterey
Yesterday. - > i" .
on make d wonder about shoot
Jag o buffalo. l, myself, have done
ne like On q trip to the Rocky Noun.
:l4ins, and have 'holp cat that animal
Cooked by a fire made Of its own
.'Ships.' WhatIstrange thing do you
think Is the shooting Ief buffalo, to
II man who has, crossed the Rocky
Mountains and Sierra Nevada, ira
Nersed the intervening plains and de-
llserts and who TOW maketh his dwell
ing place among the eternal hills that
hind the coast. of the great Pacific9
You should see me siSgle out prime
Fblaek-tail deer of herd, and drive a
bullet through his constitution, then,
grasping him by the horn with one
hand and my knife III the other, tum-
|ble q thousand feet with him down
along the slope of 4 grassy hill AMI
cut his throat while limping!\ Talk
!af your hills and knobs about the
Back Creek md along there, but
only Just imagine yoar hills stripped
Iof their trees and rocks and swelled
to a size Of twenty times their present
bull. and coverel witha splendid grass
pasture, green oil winter and high as
oats in summer! Andnot only hear
ing grass as large as8oats. but along
their benches bearing oats itself spon.
teneoats, and as 1args a. any you ever
saw cultivated if NOT larger. And
then Imagine YOURSELF after some
hours of hard labor. having got up
Ito the top Of one Of those hills, and
having a view Of the ocean in several
directions. The deep 'canons', ra.
vines, gullies OF gulclles, Gas they are
Ivariously called and bottoms, where
wide enough, produce immence trees
|of the redwood. q kind Of cedar ex-
|cellent for shingles. plank, etc.
swell. the question you might ask
me is: s,.What the duee are you doing
there Twill tell you. Some four
teen miles from Monterey, which is
military head quarters, there is a place
called the Lonely Ranch or the De
serted Ranch, situated on kind Of
Eoblong knoll Or fiat topei hill in
the middle ola beautiful valley or
more properly Jasoa in the NOM.
tains, the mountains forming a rim
many hundred feet above the bottom
of the bason; the bottom of the
ibason being yet many feet above the
level of the sea. YET do not suppose
the bottom, and sides Of the bason to
be smooth and even; for though there
-be hundreds Of acres Of meadow.
ground, wat,red by running streams
that flow through it, yet there be knobs
on the bottoms and sides of an exceed.
ing great height. This natural bason
or valley, mountain bound as it is,
consisting Of some thousands Of acres
in extent to which there is only one
inlet ct all easy ofaccess, and an out.
let very difficult, 10 the most magni.
ficent range for horses and cattle
almost ever found in the known world
| do suppose. Here are. herds of deer
grazing, here be gangs of wolves
prowling--the little wolf, called the
koyote--the big wolf, called the lobo.
"A grizzleY bear might set his paw on
you if YOU don't look out. The Cal
ifdrnia lion, {a terrible species Of the
panther be. too, might #pounce upon
Won. Rabbits ~ .jackass rabbits, as
big as q. fox-coney, 'coneca, SO cal.
led by the natives; perhaps the veri.
table sconey' of scripture! II 80.
true it is said of it, that the coney are
i feeble folk for tide small; not
half the size of such al we were raised
among. There be big grey ground
squirrels, beautiful top knot patridges,
raagpies, jays, hawks, eagles, ducks,
snipes, larks, wood-pigeons, and yet
others.
.Well, at this spot, 50 formed by
nature and so inhabited, is kept the
US. Caballada, and You might ask;
what the duce that ineansf Answer.
Inthe Spanish tongue It simply means
q stud Of horses or D band Of the
same. There be hereof government
property some one hundred and fifty
head, besides animals belonging "a
private individuals. Il takes about
three men TO attend them.
.sMy last employment in town wa
| 4 lay life, soin order 70 Be able e
snpf the pure breeze q the eternal