Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1889-07-27

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of unripe tomatoes were shipped as ''fruit,"
whereupon the vigilant officials insisted
that tomatoes are vegetables, and demanded
land of course received) $40 for alleged
false billing. Had they been put down as
vegetables" doubtless an equal amount
would have been demanded, on the ground
that tomatoes were fruit.
A manufacturer had sent down TO him a
lot of stove-screws with nuts, which were
simply billed as screws" the officials de-
clared them to be bolts, and demanded $50
extra duty thereon.
Soap has most exorbitant tariff, and q
merchant of Mazatlan, thinking TO evade
it, shipped large quantity of apples,
packed in boxes, having struggled among
them six boxes of soap. The lynx-eyed
officer discovered them, and the whole
cargo was seized-soap, apples apd all.
The steamship company, though ignorant
of the fraud, was held responsible, and
compelled to pay $l50-and they were
lucky to get of at that figure, for had the
matter been carried to Court $500 would
hardly have cleared them, to say nothing
of being detained possibly for months in
some miserable Mexican port.
Viewed from shipboard, all one can see
of San Jose del Cabo is a black sand bank,
with a narrow strip of green beyond
backed by the lofty Sierra de San Lazero
at whose feet nestles the village, uncovered
| in palms. No one is allowed to 60 ashore
until after the visit Of the health and Gus
toms officials, when you may engage a
| dusky Charon TO row Won in his rocking
boat for dos reales (25 cents the round
trip. The sea breaks heavily upon the
! chnroc of tho l;tfla box, o,J 49,, ,,,.ob
ably get a wetting from its spray-if you
don't upset before arriving there. The
town Is mile and half from the landing
place, and can be reached only on horse
back, because of intervening water.
THE SAN JOSE RIVER,
/ Coming down from the mountains and wa
| tering an extensive valley of the same
name, is joined on its way to the sea by
mile-wide torrent near its mouth There
| is also fresh-water lagoon near the beach,
| and between it and the town stretches an
| extensive salt marsh called La Salatea.
| OF course there are neither bridges nor
| public conveyances but it is generally
| easy to procure horses to ride and guides
| to point out the fording places, for the cit
| liens flock en- masse to the beach when a
| ship appears in the ofing. You NAV have
to ride, as | did, behind man-in the
| style OF our great-great-grandmoth
minus the piilow-but when the water
comes up alarmingly in fording the river,
/ please remember that there Is 10 use in in
/ tilctlng grips unknown to Masonry upon
| the poor fellow who has fallen a victim to
his courtesy, nor nervous clutches in the
region Of the ribs.
The village Of saint Joseph of the
/ Cape" situated on the western bank of the
river, has population of about 1,500-all
MexIcans. There is a tall church, Gus
tom house, few good cusas and many
! straw-thatched huts, some of the latter
built in circular FORM Immediately east
OF the village is a patch of pale yellow.
bordered with belt of dark green, a
! sugar-cane rancho, surrounded by COCO
palms, olive, orange, fig and lemon trees
! There is large sugar factory in sight, and
IN the narrow valley that runs back into
the mountains are many prosperous planta-
! tIons where sugar, cotton, corn and to-
bacco are cultivated. This is considered
the best part Of the peninsula, so far as
natural advantages are concerned. Fat
cattle are feeding on the foothills, and every
! aqueduct and irrisating ditch is bordered
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! is another and more populous village,
which in time will hold all the denizens
! of the others-the silent Campo Santo. or
City of the Dead, where numerous crosses
attest that the grim Reaper does not ne
| glect even this isolated community.
Though most.of the people of San Jose
are as poor as jobs typical turkey, they
are not much addicted to "the practice of
industry" Apparently they have
NO USE FOR MONEY,
/ For nothing whatever was brought to the
! ship to sell, though fish, fruits, vegetables,
| flowers, shells-ail of which they have in
! abuudance-would have brought almost
| any price. The business of the place is
mainly dependent on the nearby silver
! mines of San Antonio. The one Store,
| and seven miles of land, including most of
the village, is owned by an old gentleman
| who resides in Mazatlan. Some of the
natives are engaged in shark-fshing and
! preparation Of shark oil. 1t would seem
! that fortunes might be made in pressing
/ oil out of the castor beans that grow wild
! in wonderful luxuriance, or in cutting the
magnificent cedar and rosewood trees from
the mountain sides
A road winds picturesquely through The
! valley Of the San Jose, through lateral
| spurs OF the Sierra to the villages Of Santa
Anita, Las Palmas, Mirafores, Santiago
and Los Martres, all near the coast, and
| thence up wilder canon to San Bartold,
San Antonio, the silver mines of Trianfo
! and La Paz. The entire Journey is not
| much more than 100 miles, and will we'll
| repay the tourist, who must hire horses or
mules, with guide or servant, in San Jose.
/ An hour before we were ready to sail
/ they brought four big oxen on board,
bound for Guaymas. How did they get
them to the ship, standing out a mile
! from shore with deep water between2
! BY the barbarous method common on
/ these coasts, as follows: The cattle are
/ driven into shallow water and tied by the
! horns to row-boat, two on each side.
Then another boat, manned by six stout
rogers, takes the lead, towing the former
with Its odd outside passengers" who are
| goaded into the sea by sharp spears. The
! poor, frightened animals-with heads Just
| above the water, eyes turned skyward full
OF terror and surprise, legs sticking
straight out and trailing along the pillows
are pitiable objects, apparently more
dead than alive, when they arrive at the
ships side. Then a long wait ensues
while tackle is being prepared for haul
ing them aboard, during which they have
ample time to drown at leisure, and
would certainly do so were not their
heads fastened back and upwards, close to
the sides of the boat in a position which
must, of itself, be
EXCRUCIATING TORTURE.
At last all is ready. A rope. is lowered,
to which an iron hook is attached, the lat
ter is inserted in a rope tied around the
horns Of the OK, and then the fastenings
| which secure him to the boat are cut. He
drops hike lead down into the deep sea,
and for a moment bystanders believe that
he has surely gone to make meal for