Volcano weekly ledger., 1855-12-01
For The Weekly Ledger.
A Walk to Rancheria.

A Walk to Rancheria
Mn Enron II read with interest the de-
scription in your last number of the buggy
ride you had to the above place, and the fine
view obtained from part of the road. Hay
ing been for eighteen months confined to the
narrow horizon which these mountain gorges
afford, concluded to go out to your 'Pisgah,
once more to give my visual organs a chance
to expand Byam & Co.'S road found to
he all that you had represented, and the com
pany deserve great credit and good pay for
the enterprise they have exhibited.
As came in sight of the valley | diyerg-
ed from the road to obtain a more extended
view. The declining sun cast a mellow
light upon the scene, the horizon was clear to
its utmost bounds, and there lay the vast con
cave in the deep stiffness of seemingly un-
peopled waste, bounded by the coast noun.
tans and the Sierras, Mount Diablo and the
Buttes Behind arose in chilling grandeur
the Nevada, rejecting from his icy mail the
suns rays, thus protecting the congeaed stores
that are to nourish the parched earth another
summer. or wash out the treasures of the
mines Beneath me lay the dark lines of for
est which skirt the Cosumnes, the American,
the Sacramento and Bear rivers. A cloud
hung over the city of Sacramento, and col
umns of light grey smoke which seemed to
support the arch of the armament arose from
the tules of Cache Creek and the embrasures
of the Cosumnes. There was silence-that
oppressive silence which is tsnly in solitude,
upon barren cminence, when the windsSleep.
How painfully is self, standing thus isolated
in immensity-how the heart yearns for com
panionship with something with which it can
compare. In such situation the voice of the
humblest insect is music-the stray crow an
agreeable visitor.
But let us look from hence through our
mental telescope, and how quickly is solitude
dispelled-the vast amphitheatre peopled--
see ! farms, towns cities dot the plain-thou-
sands of teams tread the roads in all direc-
tions-the locomotive roars along its iron
way, and wires, those narrow highways for
the lightning, radiate from the great CONNER
cial focus to every mountain pass. What
were the plains of Shinar, the valley of the
Nile, or Euphrates to this What was Jor-
dan to the Sacramento or many of its tribu-
taries or what the land of Canaan to Cali
Tornia We have no need of the workmen
Of Tyre, or the precious stones and gold Of
Ophir, or the cedars of Lebanon for all are
here. Here is the cradle of genius, the ulti-
ma thule of human greatness, the fms terre.
But must come down to the little spot
over which | have looked. Ranchera prom
ises to be place of considerable Importance.
The hills around it appear to be of late form
alton, or what is called lava, and the flats and
ravines are all auriferous. IT presents fine
field for the prospector, as but little in that
line has yet been done The town is improv-
ing rapidly and has amongst its fairest fea-
lures a number of ladies and pretty misses
Amongst other things saw there, was load
of brick from Peara & Co.'S kiln of Volcano.
A great benefactor has been that brick COM
pany They have ornamented Volcano with
some fine houses, made many cabins comfort
able with good brick chimneys, and have yet
some tens of thousands 10 sell at very low
prices. What associations are connected with
bricks They were the first stereotype plates
the world knew The bricks of Nineyah bear
ing the record of kings who lived before the
Jews or their father had an existence, are still
in perfect preservation The bricks of Bah
ylon bear the names Of the proud builders of
that great city, where almost all else regard
ing them is eilaced from times records and
the bricks of California, having taken place
of the cloth tent and stick chimney, bespeak
a stable future, with comfortable and endur-
ing houses
But enough. If you have nothing better
you may put this medley in your paper, and
maybe I'll write again
TRAVELLER.
The Allied Banquet
Tho Gonfronc;eoo J,.oIJ Lo,. .a,,ou4 .,,a.,