The upper division of the bay of San Francisco is called the Suisun. Situated upon the strait connecting the two divisions, is the town of Benicia, on the north, and the pleasant little hamlet of Martinez, on the south side. How sunny and pleasant looked the valleys bordering on the bay! the luxuriant growth of wild oats therein affording excellent{112} pasturage for the numerous herds of wild cattle roaming over the country. Soon we found ourselves entering the noble Sacramento. The river, at intervals, is fringed with timber, chiefly oak, sycamore, and willows. Grape-vines, and a variety of shrubbery, ornament its banks. The quiet, peaceful stillness which pervades all nature, as you are ascending this stream, has an ineffable charm, a sort of fascination, to the beholder. The boat stopped a short time at Sacramento city. How very low and flat the town appeared, in point of locality, compared with San Francisco,—not a single hill to relieve the eye! It presented one feature peculiar to all California towns at that day—a great deal of canvas pre-eminently conspicuous, in the shape of buildings, with signs attached, competing, in point of size, with the buildings which they graced. In some places the river is nearly half a mile in width. It makes some very graceful bends. The land bordering on this magnificent stream is very low, and subject to inundations, which is a serious impediment to the advancement of agriculture, to which the soil is admirably adapted. Three years afterwards, when sailing down this majestic stream, I witnessed with delight many spots of this river{113}side wilderness, made to “blossom as the rose” by the indomitable energy and unconquerable enterprise, in opposition to every discouragement, of the successful pioneers. I often wished, as some spot lovelier than another met the eye, that it had been my lot to have found a home in just such a sunny spot, far away from the noisy strife of the busy, bustling world. But I must not tarry too long on thy bosom, noble Sacramento, but leave thy allurements and beauties to be chronicled by some abler pen than mine, and hasten up stream to the point where Feather River, one of the largest tributaries of the Sacramento, unites her limpid waters with those of her sister river. With the name of Feather River the early Anglo-Californian associates the commingled sentiments of many a pleasure and pain. The rich tributes of gold which rewarded his toil could not compensate for the saddened yearnings of the heart. All that he loved on earth were far away from him; his condition was hazardous in the extreme; no friend, perhaps, was near with a solace; and, but for the inspiriting unction of a constantly indulged hope, even the future would have been desolate and dreary.