We must acknowledge that Sir George Simpson would have much improved his
volumes by striking out the whole of this description. It is evident
that he was received with civilities of every kind;--he was provided
with horses and attendants;--he was taken to see all the remarkable
features of the estate and the habits of its people; he was _feted_,
introduced to wife and daughters, sons-in-law and daughters-in-law, sung
and danced for, and smiled on and talked with, as if he had been a
prince; and yet his whole account of this hospitality throws it into the
most repulsive light imaginable;--cold dinners, bad attendance, rude
furniture, and so forth, form the staple of his conceptions; and if his
book should ever reach General Vallego's hands, which it probably will,
through the zeal of American republication, we can easily imagine that
he will become cautious in his hospitality for the time to come. We, at
least, shall not extend the vexation of this Spanish gentleman by
quoting any part of this unfortunate _bevue_. We say this with regret.
But this style of repaying generous hospitality cannot be too distinctly
reproved, for the sake of all future travellers who may want, not merely
hospitality, but protection.
The next subject of description is Monterey, which has lately assumed a
peculiar interest, as one of the objects of the American invasion. The
Bay of Monterey forms a segment of a circle with a chord of about
eighteen miles. Monterey had always been the seat of government, though
it consisted of but a few buildings. But, since the revolution of 1836,
it has expanded into a population of about seven hundred souls. The town
occupies a plain, bounded by a lofty ridge. The dwellings are the
reverse of pompous, being all built of mud bricks. The houses are
remarkable for a paucity of windows, glass being inordinately dear; even
parchment almost unattainable, and the artists in window-making charging
three dollars a-day!
But, to the Californians, perhaps this privation of light is not an
evil. While it makes the rooms cooler, it cannot, by any possibility,
interfere with the occupations of those who do nothing. The bed affords
a curious contrast to the rest of the furniture. While the apartments
exhibit a deal-table, badly made chairs, probably a Dutch clock, and an
old looking-glass, the bed "challenges admiration by snowy white sheets,
fringed with lace, a pile of soft pillows, covered with the finest linen
or the richest satin, and a well-arranged drapery of costly and tasteful
curtains." Still this bed is "but a whited sepulchre," with a wool
mattress--"the impenetrable stronghold of millions of----." We leave the
rest to the imagination.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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