sandy beach, upon which the waves have drifted,
and deposited a large quantity of oat-straw, and feathers shed by the
millions of water-fowls which sport upon the bay. On this downy deposit
furnished by nature we spread our blankets, and slept soundly.

_October 24_.--We proceeded on our voyage at daylight, coasting along
the southern shore of the _Soeson_. About nine o'clock we landed on a
marshy plain, and cooked breakfast. A range of mountains bounds this
plain, the base of which is several miles from the shore of the bay.
These mountains, although of considerable elevation, exhibit signs of
fertility to their summits. On the plain, numerous herds of wild cattle
were grazing. About two o'clock, P.M., we entered the mouth of the
Sacramento. The Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers empty into the Bay of
San Francisco at the same point, about sixty miles from the Pacific,
and by numerous mouths or _sloughs_ as they are here called. These
sloughs wind through an immense timbered swamp, and constitute a
terraqueous labyrinth of such intricacy, that unskilful and
inexperienced navigators have been lost for many days in it, and some,
I have been told, have perished, never finding their way out. A range
of low sloping hills approach the Sacramento a short distance above its
mouth, on the left-hand side as you ascend, and run parallel with the
stream several miles. The banks of the river, and several large islands
which we passed during the day, are timbered with sycamore, oak, and a
variety of smaller trees and shrubbery. Numerous grape-vines, climbing
over the trees, and loaded down with a small and very acid fruit, give
to the forest a tangled appearance. The islands of the Sacramento are
all low, and subject to overflow in the spring of the year. The soil of
the river bottom, including the islands, is covered with rank
vegetation, a certain evidence of its fertility. The water, at this
season, is perfectly limpid, and, although the tide ebbs and flows more
than a hundred miles above the mouth of the river, it is fresh and
sweet. The channel of the Sacramento is remarkably free from snags and
other obstructions to navigation. A more beautiful and placid stream of
water I never saw.

At twelve o'clock at night, the ebb-tide being so strong that we found
ourselves drifting backwards, with some difficulty we effected a
landing on one of the islands, clearing a way through the tangled brush
and vines with our hatchets and knives