ishments and
anglo-Saxon lineage, she held the demonios Yankees in mortal abhorrence;
but who could blame her, they had murdered a brace of her handsomest
lovers, and this in California, where lovers were scarce, was a crime
not to be forgiven.

One morning I shouldered a rifle--indebted to Don Ricardo for horses,
and his beautiful daughter for a cup of water, and being attended by a
little truant ship-boy as guide, who had been left to cure hides during
the absence of his vessel, we dashed inland. Crossing a belt of
mountains, we struck the sea shore, and turning to the northward,
ascended a succession of steep hills, until we had gained a rocky
table-land above--there was no timber to be seen, and except the stunted
undergrowth netted together in valleys and ravines, all was one rolling
scene of grass, wild oats and flowers. Near by was a small sheet of
fresh water, caught by the rain and held in by a narrow plateau,
swarming with water fowl, and framed by broken masses of huge rocks. It
was a great resort for deer, and I found them herding in large bands of
thirty and forty together, but from the nature of the country, so open
and free from foliage, it required the utmost caution to approach within
striking distance. However, I managed to pop the death billets into the
hearts of two noble bucks, and while creeping down a gully for a shot at
a third, I was startled by the shouts and gestures of the boy, "Here's a
grizzly a-coming! here's a grizzly." Gott in heimmell, I mentally
ejaculated--there is going to be a race. Away I clambered and ran to the
nearest height--there was a huge black monster, the size of a bullock,
coming from the direction of the lake, and tearing up the opposite ridge
towards where the horses were picketed. The frightened beasts scenting
their enemy, were plunging and snorting terrifically, until at last
they broke their _riatas_, and plunged like mad down the steep--the boy
was making his heels fly as if provided with a steam engine in his
trowsers; then looking upon the mission as fully accomplished, I
tightened my belt, and leaped in the tracks of my companion. I have no
accurate means of determining the rapidity of my flight, but should any
one feel disposed to test the full capacity of his lungs and legs, he
can do so to the utmost, with a grizzly behind him. I little thought,
the last time I saw one at the _Jardin des Plantes_, and took such
interest in watching children feeding him with s