In the course of my experience I have been tortured by sand-flies in the Eastern Archipelago, and have made acquaintance with every kind of mosquito, from Malta to Acapulco, including of course the famous “tiger� breed, against which there is no resource but flight. I remember that, when sick at Hong Kong, I was crammed into the cabin of an old store-ship so full of cockroaches, and these so ravenous, that they kept my toe-nails quite close every night, and would even try the flavour of the top of my head, and, when they found that to be all bone, they eat my hair and whiskers, the last circumstance being very annoying, from the fact that whiskers were scarce with me in those days; but I would have preferred any of these annoyances to the attack of those Santa Rosa fleas. On lighting a candle we found the place alive with them; unlike, both in appearance and manner, the modest flea of ordinary life, that seeks concealment as soon as by accident it is unearthed, these insects, reared in the rough school of a wild bullock’s hide, boldly faced as they attacked us. We discovered the next day that the room, the floor and walls of which were of earth, had contained hides, and had been cleared out for the purpose of our accommodation.
But, as a general rule, the Californian houses are alive with fleas, they thrive in the cracks of the mudbrick walls and in the hides with which these places are always strewed. No pains are taken to eject them, and Don Raymond remarked, on our mentioning the fact, that we should get used to them; he and his family never gave the little “malditos� a thought.
After an early breakfast of “tortillas� and fresh milk we commenced at once to look up our shooting gear. Close to us, on one side, was a marsh full of wild fowl, and, stretching for miles round, was the wooded plain, covered with grass, in some places as tall as ourselves. This plain, our host assured us, abounded with deer, elk, and antelope. For a reason, which afterwards appeared, Don Raymond was very anxious that Thomas and I should mount two of his horses, and, in company with some of his Spanish friends, ride over the ranche; we were to take our rifles and shoot all that came in our way. I should of course have preferred to have been allowed to go out on foot and seek my venison in a more sportsman-like manner, than in the company of a dozen clattering, jingling “Caballeros;� but I could not do otherwise than accept the invitation, particularly as it suggested itself to me that Don Raymond’s main object in mounting us was that we should at once appreciate the beauty and extent of the Santa Rosa Ranche.
So that even among these most primitive of agriculturists vanity of possession stands uppermost in all its vulgarity; what has this man, I thought, to show me but a tract of land, rich certainly in nature’s gifts, but in which his only pride consists that he owns it? I could have seen it much better by myself when walking over it, but to please his egotism I must admire it his way and sacrifice my own pleasure; but how I hugged myself when I considered that here at least were no fat pigs, no model styes, with which to bore one; no oatcake-fed bullocks to be measured with a cambric pocket-handkerchief and praised, whilst you held your nose; not even a heap of “compo-manure� to sit and gloat over. At the worst it was but a pleasant gallop over the wild oats, in a pure air, and through a lovely country.
In front of the house was a court-yard of considerable extent, and part of this was sheltered by a porch. Here, when the “vaccaros� have nothing to call them to the field, they pass the day, looking like retainers of a rude court. A dozen wild, vicious little horses, with rough wooden saddles on their backs, stand ever ready for work; whilst lounging about, the “vaccaros� smoke, play the guitar, or twist up a new “riatta�[4] of hide or horse-hair. When the sun gets warm they go to sleep in the shade, whilst the little
horses, who remain in the sunshine, do the same apparently, for they shut their eyes and never stir. Presently a “vaccaro,â€� judging the time by the sun, gets up and yawns, and staggering lazily towards his horse, gathers up his “riattaâ€� and twists it round the animals neck; the others, awakened, rise and do the same, all yawning with their eyes half open, looking as lazy a set as ever were seen, as indeed they are when on foot. Huppa!—Anda!—away they all go in a cloud of dust, splashing through the river, waving their lassos round their heads with a wild shout, and disappearing from the sight almost as soon as mounted. The “vaccaroâ€� wants at all times to ride furiously, and the little horses’ eyes are opened wide enough before they receive the second dig of their rider’s iron spurs.
We found great bustle and preparation going on in the court-yard when we rose; it was full of horses and “vaccaros,� and some neighbouring ranche owners having arrived, their horses, which were handsome and of large size, were standing near the house, champing their bits. The saddles and bridles of these were ornamented with silver, and the stirrup-leathers were covered with bear skins in such a way as to form a very secure armour for the legs against the attacks of wild cattle.
Breakfast over, the Spanish guests were introduced; they were all fine dashing looking fellows, with the exception of one, a short stout man; from the first moment of our meeting war was tacitly declared between us and this gentleman; we found that he was a suitor for the hand of the eldest sister, who, by the way, owned a part of the ranche, and I suppose he imagined it was our intention to contest this prize with him; for he commenced at once to show his disapprobation of our presence; we called this fellow Quilp. Each of the party had his horse waiting in readiness—ours had yet to be selected from a drove of about a hundred, which were enclosed in a “corral,â€� or circular enclosure, that was close by the house. The wild horses of the country generally are small, of these I shall speak by and bye; but Don Raymond, who took the lead among the fast Californians, prided himself on the possession of a “mañadaâ€� of horses of a superior breed; these he had pointed out to me the day before, and among them I had observed, all rough as they were, some fine beasts. A few steps brought us to the “corral;â€� Quilp in the foreground, muttering something which we took for granted was insidious advice to Raymond to pick us out “wild ones.â€�
“You English ride?â€� asked Raymond. I replied modestly, that we rode a little sometimes, as I knew that the slightest approach to assurance on my part would be the signal for a wild stallion being selected for my accommodation. However, Raymond picked us out two high-spirited, but broken-in beasts, that seemed about as well behaved as any that were there. When they were brought into the court, and blinded as usual, Thomas and I produced, and girthed up, our English saddles, on which we had ridden up from Benicia; we were immediately surrounded by the whole crowd of guests and “vaccaros;â€� bah! those were not saddles—there was no horn to which to fasten the lasso—the stirrups did not protect the foot and leg when the horse fell down and rolled over you! I did not know Spanish enough to answer them, and perhaps it was as well, for I should most certainly have addressed myself to Quilp most strongly on the subject, as the instant he saw my “pigskinâ€� he made a point of turning up what nose Providence had endowed him with, and that was not much. But I observed with pleasure that their observations were directed principally to the fact of the flat smooth surface of our saddles as compared with their “demi-peaks,â€� from which the body receives support on every side. Thomas had a fine seat on a horse, and both of us had had some practice in rough riding both at home and abroad, or otherwise I should have remonstrated with Raymond respecting the wish so evidently expressed by his friends of amusing themselves at our expense.