This was sport enough for one day; we galloped on through the defile, which wound round a mountain spur, till it struck a precipitous stream, which sent into the green nooks the wild echoes of its cascades. Following the ravine through which it poured its more tranquil tide, we debouched at length upon the plain, crowned with the hospitable mansion of our host. The feats of the morning astonished even the old Don, who offered his favorite roan to the one whose bullet had killed the bear. The meed was challenged by each and all, but no one could make good and exclusive claim. The gentlemen relinquished their claim, but that only made the matter worse, as it narrowed the contest to the circle of the señoritas. Dinner was announced; then came the siesta, followed by the soft twilight, with the harp, guitar, and song, which melted away into sweet sleep. In the morning Mr. G. and myself, with the glorious Leopaldo, waved our adieu, and returned to Monterey. MONDAY, SEPT. 6. A mother, who lives with a man out of wedlock, applied to me this morning to take her two daughters from an aunt, with whom they were living, and place them in another family. When asked for her reasons, she stated that this aunt had not a good reputation, and though bad herself, she did not want to see her daughters so. I told her she could hardly expect me to make her daughters better than their mother; that parental example was stronger than law; that if she wanted to keep her daughters pure, she must be so herself. She shed tears: I said no more; but ordered her daughters into the family where she desired. TUESDAY, SEPT. 7. One of the volunteers broke into my coral last night, with the intention of reaching the hen-roost, but was frightened nearly to death by a discharge of mustard-seed from an old fowling-piece, with which my servant had armed himself for the protection of his poultry. Some of the volunteers, and I hope much the larger portion, are upright, honest men, but there are others who will steal any thing and every thing, from a horse to a hen. One of the evils of a soldier’s lot is, that the good are often confounded with the bad. But every profession suffers in the same way. FRIDAY, SEPT. 10. Our bay is full of sardines; an Indian jumped into the surf and scooped up for me, with his blanket, half a peck in a few minutes. The pelican follows these small fish, and pounces down upon them with a savage ferocity. There is something in such a sudden destruction of life, even in a minnow, which you don’t like. I have often wished the bird just shot again on the wing.