Connecticut western news., 1885-03-18
CALIFORNIA.
As @eeA hy a Former Resad~ns ~f
 Canaan, who Spent I've Years Rm ehe G@a&em State.
CH RR Iv.

of the Central Pacific R. R. Stockton lies at the head of Stockton slough, an arm of the Sacramento river which is large enough for the river steamers and barges to come up to the city. Therr are two lines of steamers at Stockton; one line to San Francisco and the other to Sacramento, daily trips being made to each place. Stockton Is quite large city, the fourth in size in the state, and situated in the centre almost of the farming district and is noted for its i'm mense grain warehouses. This IS the shipping point for the San Jc quin val ley. Flat boats, barges and steamers, carrying grain much cheaper than thu railroad, draws trade there which would otherwise go to San Francisco or Sacra- mento. There are two large, first-clasA hotels. four banks. the largest Aourine mill in the state, four or five daily and weekly newspapers, the county court house and the State insane asylum. The city is supplied with water from an ar tesian we'll. LOOP feet deep and flowing 30O,OOO gallons of pure water daily, rising eleven feet above city grade. They have large and efficient fire de psrtment, which is much needed at times.
 Stockton was founded by Captain Weber in 1SkS. who namsd 1t to con- memorate Commodore Stockton's con quests in California. The captain still lives there, isolated from all his neigh bors, on 8 point of land half mile be- Inv the town. on Stockton slough. He is 1t swords points with all whom h, m cts, and seems to have a speciai g,uige against the duck hunters wh, es tire at Stockton every winter and !. hunt through the tulies. :, .......
 Duck hunting Is carried on here e1 t 'lsively. The tulies afford good covr fo: ,lucks and geese and full as good f,j the hunter. The hunters take hog h. dds out into the tulies and sma. sloughs and sink them; these are use to stay in and shoot into the hocks & tisy hy overhead; whole boat loads art- Ri led this way. The kinds of wat. fowl found here are as follows: whit, - anl gray geese, black mallard, canvas, bA;k and dipper ducks, teal, coot, mu. hens, long-legged cranes and herons, g few swan and pelicans; the last two. however, are very shy and the hunt. I seldom gets one of either; they botL bring a good price at the taxidermists, -s wao stuff them for show windows aud private collections. There are over 5Cf d lferent kinds of birds found In Cali fo -1ia and good many make taxideru, business. There are several differel, var,eties of humming birds, some tha are not found anywhere else in tlt ,untry. These bring 8 good pric when one is lucky enough to catch ons s:and save 1t in gomd condition.
 Stockton is the starting point for tn, big trees and the Yosemite valley, Il { route to the big trees via Mokeluml , hill and the Yosemite via Oakdale an, the Copperopolis railroad. Let us talk, a.trip to the big trees. Starting fr D Stockton in the morning. as we vii presume to go by private conveyan' e we take an easterly course across ti plains, reaching the foot hills and tn M ,kelumne river at Clemments or Hol mans. The route from this point. fol lows the river most of the way. It is
 vry pleasant ride over the. rolling fir hills, with many fine orchards and yin, yards, as this foot hills (the lower o Arst hillsl land is particularly adapte, to apples, pears, almonds and hard grapes. We are here outside of railroa limits, or 20 miles from it, and here W sAll good deal of unoccupied govern msnt land. The farmers pasture thei sock on this vacant land, called tn rsnge. At Cam lnche, an oli. dssarte m ning town, Is the famous Mrs Hill et ta.e, where the bhuhact plant Is raised It is used to make what Is general known as Persian insect powder. o i5e large tract of land between th TO, d and the river Is devoted to raisin this plant, aud we are not awar. of il being raised elsewhere. BhuEact is
 smI Ill, velvety-leaved plant, ahd whe dr.ed is as light and bulky as feather and Is ground fine as flour, and by
 sintSar process.
 Cam n she Is tbs fir,t of the Id mir ing towns you meet. It does not in pr ss he traveller very favorably. Thel isasmall hotel, 8 store atd post office. an any numbef of Chinese .'washee Washee honse5 The town looks as if it ha lost its las. friend, and the small hill tor n les around present: nothing bu old ditches and fumes, great piles C eobble stones and red or gray bed rocl signs of what was once a great minin camp when thousands rocked or cradle out g i'd day times and gambled g ay nights. Some sights were pre sented here in the years 1S49-60. Be tween here and Campo Seco we go u hill fast, both sides of the load coyere withschapparal or Chinese brush, inter spersed with manxinita or laurel, whicI is small, red-barked bush seldom e1 ceeding six inches in diameter, but yer, hard and capable of high and heauti fui poliah. Occasional clumps of buck eye and here and there stunted yellOv pine, with burrs as large as on E head