San Andreas independent., 1858-09-11

is loamy, but the frosts at night, and the alti-
tude will prevent its ever being used for agri-
cultural purposes. short distance to the
south OF the road is beautiful little valley, a
small tributary of the Stanislaus running
through it, and an abundance of grass
Mountain quail are quite plentiful, with occa-
sionally few grouse. The weather here in
the day time is quite pleasant, but the nights
are cool, with slight frosts.
Thursday, August 10TH We kept under
our blankets until after sunrise in consequence
of the chilliness of the atmosphere We then
started out and soon found plenty of quail,
but they act here much different from those in
the foot hills, as they but seldom alight in
trees, but take to cover, from which they have
to be started. The grouse squat closer even
than the quail, allowing a person almost to
tread on them before they rise; they then
make short flight then down again and
hide, and we felt the need very much of good
dog to start them up. The country around
here is beautiful, being a continual change of
hill and vale; cool springs gushing out from
the hillsides, the grass fresh and green, whilst
small tributaries Of the Stanislaus, cool and
clear as crystal, at our feet, making the
stout ensemble" almost paradise Wild
raspberries, currants, gooseberries of two va
rieties, and blue berries, grow here in abun-
dance. Grizzly bear and deer are seen oc-
casionally, offering a more exciting sport 10
those who prefer this kind of game. Messrs.
McKinty Thompson informed US that few
nights since a pack of wolves paid them a
visit, making night hideous with their howl
ing, compelling them to guard their cattle
closely to prevent them from attacking the
calves; but as the wolves did not succeed in
getting single animal, they finally gave up
the attempt, and scampered off. We are liv-
ing high here in fact on " the best the market
affords" consisting of game of all varieties,
berries of several kinds-Messrs McKinty &
Thompson furnishing US milk in abundance
for which they will please accept our thanks
and having coffee, tea, sugar, bread and the
other etceteras, we can have a better meal
than is ever obtained in a restaurant or hotel
in the mountains, served up with that best of
all sauces, an excellent appetite, which can be
had by any one who will make the trip here.
Friday, August goth. We took an early
start this morning for Grizzly Bear Valley"
some eight miles above this place, travelling
along through some finely wooded country,
consisting principally of different species of
pine, cedar and the beautiful quivering aspen
The road is much more level than we ex-
pected to find it, having to cross but one small
hill, at the base of which is "Onion Valley D
This valley is small, but well covered with
grass. On the right of the road is large
boulder, on which several names are painted.
Passing through this valley the road winds
around the foot of granite hill on the left !;
to the right the ground is rolling, and thickly
strewn with boulders of all Sizes some of
which are upwards of twenty feet in dame
ter; occasionally two, three, and even four
may be seen piled one on top of the other
How they came thus, is matter for some of
our savans to settle. At about eleven o'clock
we arrived at roofess cabin-if such it may
be called-having neither rafters, chinking,
fireplace nor window, with an entrance about
three feet in heighth and two in width, which
we took the liberty of calling a doorway, al
though there was no door in fact it was
nothing else than a few logs piled up in the
form of a parallelogram. We determined,
however, to make this our place of residence
az 1opn ac var apo6 in tbo bo,
a high peak Immediately behind it. which
would serve as landmark by which to re-
trace our steps from the surrounding country.
This valley is several hundred acres in ex-
tent, well covered with grass and contains
several fine springs, in which the water is
continually bubbling up, appearing sometimes
as if it was boiling. A fine creek runs through
it lengthwse, near the center; on each side
it is bounded by granite ridges, covered with
pine and aspen. We found squirrels without
number-principally chipmucks and ground,
with a few grey-quail and few geese on
the creek.
Saturday, August 21st. During the night
we had quite heavy frost, and this morning
we found ice around The spring. We again
sailed out in search of more geese, and soon
succeeded in finding them, and also started up
) a couple of large black wolves, which, after
} saluting US with a long dismal howl, scam
pered off and soon disappeared over the hill
In the afternoon we gathered hat full Of
gooseberries, and tried the experiment of ma
/, king jam. We succeeded in making some as
good if not better than that sent to this coun-
try from the Atlantic States, and we would not
be surprised to learn that the business of put
ting up these wild berries was made profit
} able undertaking.
Sunday, August 22d. We have been ex-
pectng party up from Murphy's, who had
J been off searching location for reservoir
| for the Union Water Company, of Murphy's
! who had discovered new hunting ground
and were about to return there again. Hav-
} ing waited until our ammunition and patience
gave out, concluded to return. After having
travelled down the road about five miles, we
met the advance guard of the Murphy's party