MISSION OF SANTA CLARA.
This mission is situated in the bosom of the great valley that bears its name, six miles from the embarcadero which strands the upper bend of the great bay of San Francisco. Around it lie the richest lands in California—once its own domain. In 1823 it branded, as the increase of one year, 22,400 calves. It owned 74,280 head of full-grown cattle, 407 yoke of working-oxen, 82,540 sheep, 1890 trained horses, 4235 mares, 725 mules, 1000 hogs, and $120,000 in goods. The church is a gigantic pile, and was once adorned with ornaments of massive silver. The property was secularized in 1834 by order of Gen. Figueroa, when the frolicking citizens of the Pueblo de San José began to revel on its ruins. It has still a fine vineyard, where the grape reels and the pear mellows.