While our man Jack was saddling and packing the mules, they gathered around us to the number of a dozen or more, and were desirous of trading their horses for articles of clothing; articles which many of them appeared to stand greatly in need of, but which we had not to part from. Their pertinacity exceeded the bounds of civility, as I thought; but I was not in a good humour, for the fleas, bugs, and other vermin, which infested our miserable lodgings, had caused me a sleepless night, by goring my body until the blood oozed from the skin in countless places. These ruinous missions are prolific generators, and the nurseries of vermin of all kinds, as the hapless traveller who tarries in them a few hours will learn to his sorrow. When these bloodthirsty assailants once make a lodgment in the clothing or bedding of the unfortunate victim of their attacks, such are their courage and perseverance, that they never capitulate. "Blood or death" is their motto;--the war against them, to be successful, must be a war of extermination. Poor as our hostess was, she nevertheless was reluctant to receive any compensation for her hospitality. We, however, insisted upon her receiving a dollar from each of us (_dos pesos_), which she finally accepted; and after shaking us cordially by the hand she bade us an affectionate _adios_, and we proceeded on our journey. From the Mission of San José to the Pueblo of San José, the distance is fifteen miles, for the most part over a level and highly fertile plain, producing a variety of indigenous grasses, among which I noticed several species of clover and mustard, large tracts of which we rode through, the stalks varying from six to ten feet in height. The plain is watered by several _arroyos_, skirted with timber, generally the evergreen oak. We met this morning a Californian _carreta_, or travelling-cart, freighted with women and children, bound on a pleasure excursion. The _carreta_ is the rudest specimen of the wheeled vehicle I have seen. The wheels are transverse sections of a log, and are usually about 2-1/2 feet in diameter, and varying in thickness from the centre to the rim. These wheels are coupled together by an axletree, into which a tongue is inserted. On the axletree and tongue rests a frame, constructed of square pieces of timber, six or eight feet in length, and four or five in breadth, into which are inserted a number of stakes about, four feet in length. This frame-work being covered and floored with raw hides, the carriage is complete. The _carreta_ which we met was drawn by two yokes of oxen, driven by an Indian vaquero, mounted on a horse. In the rear were two _caballeros_, riding fine spirited horses, with gaudy trappings. They were dressed in steeple-crowned glazed _sombreros, serapes_ of fiery colours, velvet (cotton) _calzoneros_, white cambric _calzoncillos_, and leggins and shoes of undressed leather. Their spurs were of immense size.