I arrived at Moraga's at an early hour. His house overlooked a beautiful valley, and commanded a fine view of the hills beyond. It was built of adobes, and the walls were several feet thick. A broad piazza extended along the front, affording a pleasant shade in summer. I entered by a broad door-way, a capacious room well finished, and handsomely papered and painted. There was neither stove nor fire-place in it, nor any furniture, with the exception of chairs and a small time-piece. In this room the gentlemen were assembled, and this was the hall in which we were to pass the evening. In a smaller room on the left, I saw two neat-looking beds, one of which was furnished with handsome figured, white muslin curtains. There were also chairs, tables, and a looking-glass in the room. This room I observed was occupied by the family, and the lady guests. The only other room I saw was that in which we took supper, and was like the rest, finished in a style of considerable neatness.
And now for the company. First comes Señor Moraga, the father of our host and owner of the estate, an old man of seventy, short, thick, corpulent and coarse-featured, but sprightly, active and polite. Then his sons, José and Francisco, between thirty and forty years of age, swarthy men with very good features, black hair, whiskers and mustaches. They were very gentlemanly in their deportment. There were several Mexicans, some of whom were tolerably polished in their manners, and others as uncouth as the Indians with whom they associated. But the greater part of the company consisted of Americans, rough men from the Redwoods, who, however, deported themselves with a considerable degree of propriety.
Next come the ladies, who, by all the laws of gallantry, should have been mentioned first. And foremost among them was Doña Maria, our hostess, and the lady of José Moraga. She was a large, corpulent woman with a fairer complexion and better features than most Mexican women I had seen, and she was said to be of pure Castilian blood. Her black, glossy hair was arranged in the usual Spanish style, in two braids that hung down her back. She was dressed in a black silk that fitted well her capacious person. She had several daughters, whose personal attractions I cannot extol, but who were very pretty dancers. There were two old women, very ugly, whose names I did not learn. I observed a considerable number of Indian women in the house, and there was no lack of pappooses among them. I was pleased with the little imps, and they did not reject my overtures for a frolic occasionally, and were not disinclined to be on familiar terms with me. They constituted, indeed, a very amusing part of the evening's entertainment.
Two musicians had been employed for the occasion. Their instruments were a violin and a guitar. Dancing was the principal amusement.
The ladies entered the room and seated themselves without ceremony, the musicians struck up a lively tune, and one of the gentlemen arose and waved his handkerchief towards a lady, whereupon she arose and moved moderately over the floor, and while her feet, hid by her long dress, drummed out almost every note of the music, her body seemed to glide along without any apparent exertion, neither rising nor falling, as if she were carried along by invisible machinery, or was floating over the floor without touching it. While she was thus moving along in this peculiar dance, one of the gentlemen seized his neighbor's hat—all the gentlemen wore their hats except when dancing—and placed it on the young lady's head. She still continued to dance without appearing to pay the slightest attention to this apparently uncivil act. She soon, however, took her seat and displaced the hat, holding it in her hand. Another and another of the ladies were called, or rather motioned up, who each performed the same dance, and each was similarly crowned with a hat or a handkerchief, and sometimes with several of each. Doña Maria was also called to the floor. She executed the dance with superior grace, and with greater success than the girls in collecting hats and handkerchiefs. All this was carried on with great merriment on the part of the young fellows, but with the greatest apparent gravity and seriousness on that of the ladies. I was at a loss to know the meaning of this strange performance, or if it had any meaning at all, until my own sombrero was suddenly snatched from my head, and placed on that of a young señorita. I was then informed that each article thus seized and appropriated must be redeemed by a payment in money to the fair one on whom it had been bestowed, and that half a dollar was the sum agreed on by general assent. In this way, considerable sums of money are sometimes gathered by the ladies from a company of liberal young men, who enjoy the sport of thus victimizing each other. This amusement was called up repeatedly in the course of the evening, and some of the young men paid a pretty handsome tax for the sport. I saw Doña Maria at one time with three hats crowded on her head, and at least half a dozen handkerchiefs on her shoulders. Besides the tax thus collected, an assessment of two dollars each was levied on us to pay for the music.
Besides the singular dance I have just described we had cotillions and waltzes. In the first, the fat Doña Maria was the most graceful dancer, but in the waltzes—Doña Maria did not waltz—several of the girls performed very prettily. But foremost among them was Francisco's daughter, Juana, and another young lady whose name I did not learn, who waltzed with much ease and grace, and who prided themselves on tiring out, not only the other dancers, but even the musicians. My head grew giddy as I sat and saw those two girls twirling about the room.
Supper was ready at an early hour. My friend, Francisco, did me the unexpected honor to lead me in and seat me at the head of the first table. Doña Maria sat at the opposite extremity of the table, and the other ladies, numbering from sixteen to twenty, occupied the sides. Myself was the only male. Our supper consisted of soup, baked meats, boiled chickens and bread, with wine in glass tumblers instead of tea or coffee. We were waited upon by our host, José, assisted by another gentleman. There was but little conversation among us, but we got along very pleasantly. I proposed a glass of wine with Doña Maria by signs, which she readily understood, and she drank her glass with much grace. Perceiving José to be rather inexpert at carving chickens, I offered my services, which he accepted. We afterwards drank a glass of wine together, and thus ended the ceremony of supper. The table was soon cleared and rearranged for another set of occupants.
Dancing was kept up pretty constantly, I did not join in it, but was for the most part a silent spectator. I found myself frequently, in the course of the evening, seated by the side of our hostess, who was disposed to make herself agreeable, and would, I doubt not, really have been so, had she understood my language, or I hers. As it was, I contrived to ask her a few questions, and found her quick to comprehend my signs. I inquired about her children, knowing that to be the subject, of all others, the most interesting to a mother. She pointed to those who were dancing, and to several that were seated. I asked her how many she had, and she held up her five fingers of one hand, and three of the other. "Ocho," said I. "Si, Señor, ocho," she replied with a smile, amused, perhaps, that I had learned one word of Spanish.
Francisco, also, with not a little pride, directed my attention to his daughters, who were dancing so merrily; and I could only express my admiration of them by exclaiming, "bueno; bueno!"