The examination of the witnesses lasted five or six hours; I then gave the case to the jury, stating the questions of fact upon which they were to render their verdict. They retired for an hour, and then returned, when the foreman handed in their verdict, which was clear and explicit, though the case itself was rather complicated. To this verdict, both parties bowed without a word of dissent. The inhabitants who witnessed the trial, said it was what they liked—that there could be no bribery in it—that the opinion of twelve honest men should set the case forever at rest. And so it did, though neither party completely triumphed in the issue. One recovered his property, which had been taken from him by mistake, the other his character, which had been slandered by design. If there is any thing on earth besides religion for which I would die, it is the right of trial by jury.
Saturday, Sept. 5. I encountered on my hunting excursion to-day a wild Indian, with a squaw and papoose. They were on horses, he carrying his bow, with a large quiver of arrows hung at his side, and she with the child in the bunt of her blanket, at the back. They were dashing ahead in the wake of their dogs, which were in hot chase of a deer. The squaw stuck to her fleet animal as firmly as the saddle in which she sat, and took but little heed of the bogs and gullies over which she bounded. His glance was directed to a ridge of rocks, over which he seemed to expect the deer to fly from the field of wild oats through which the chase lay. I watched them till they disappeared in their whirlwind speed over the ridge. Whether the deer fell into their hands or escaped, I know not; but certainly I would not hazard my neck as they did theirs for all the game even in the California forests. But this, to them, is life; they seek no repose between the cradle and the grave.
Sunday, Sept. 6. The bell of the Roman Catholic church, which has been silent some weeks, rung out loud and clear this morning. I directed the prisoners, sentenced to the public works, to be taken to the service. I had given them soap, and sufficient time to clean their clothes, on Saturday; though having but one suit, they had only their blankets for covering while these were washing and drying. With a marine at their head, armed and equipped, they made quite a respectable appearance. Their conduct, during service, was reported to me as very becoming. They may yet reform, and shape their lives after the precepts of morality and religion. My own service was on board the Savannah, where we had the officers of the Erie.
Monday, Sept. 7. We have been looking for a whale-ship, or spouter, as she is called by our sailors, to come in here, and take care of the whales which are blowing around us. One belonging to the genuine old Nantucket line, came to anchor last evening. She had been on the northwest coast in pursuit of the black whale; but found them so wild, owing to the havoc that has been made among them, that she captured but very few.
This morning her boats were lowered, and their crews put off in pursuit of one of these monsters. The fellow plunged as they approached, and was out of sight for some minutes, when he hove up at a distance. “There she blows!” was the cry, and off they darted again; but by the time they had gained the spot another plunge was heard, and only a deep foaming eddy remained. The next time she lifted they were more successful, and lodged one of their harpoons. The reel was soon out, and away the boat flew, like a little car attached to a locomotive. But the harpoon at last slipped its hold, and the whale escaped. The loss seemed proportionate to the bulk of the monster.
Tuesday, Sept. 8. We have had for the last five days hardly an hour of sunshine, owing to the dense fogs which prevail here at this season. These murky vapors fill the whole atmosphere; you seem to walk in them alone, like one threading a mighty forest. A transcendentalist might easily conceive himself a ghost, wandering among the cypresses of a dead world. But, being no ghost or transcendentalist, I had a fire kindled, and found refuge from the fog in its cheerful light and warmth.
Wednesday, Sept. 9. A Californian came into my court in great haste last evening, and complained that another Californian was running away with his oxen. Suspecting the affair had some connection with a gambling transaction, I immediately handed him a warrant for the arrest of the fugitive, when off he started at the top of his speed to execute it. In less than an hour he returned with his prisoner.
I then asked the plaintiff if the oxen were his; he said they were. I asked him of whom he obtained them; he said of the man who attempted to run away with them. I asked him what he gave for them; this was a puzzler, but after hemming and hawing for a minute, he said he had played for them, and won them. I asked him what else he had won of the man; he replied, the poncho, and a thin jacket, both of which he had on. I then ordered them both into the calaboose for the night. The winner, who had apprehended the other, and who, no doubt, expected to get the oxen at once, looked quite confounded.
This morning I had the two gamblers before me: neither of them looked as if he had relished much his prison-couch. I made the winner return all his ill-gotten gains, oxen, poncho, and jacket, and then fined them each five dollars. The one who had served the warrant shrugged his shoulders, as if he had made a great mistake. There was no escape from the judgment, so they paid their fine and departed. The next time they gamble, they will probably settle matters between themselves, without a resort to the alcalde.
Thursday, Sept. 10. My alcalde duties required me to-day to preside at the executive sale of two dwelling-houses and a store. I was about as au fait at the business as Dr. Johnson at the auction of widow Thrales’ brewery, when he informed the bidders, in his towering language, that he offered them, not a few idle vats and worms, but the “potentiality of becoming rich.” The property sold well, forty per cent. higher than it would under the Mexican flag. All real estate has risen since our occupation of the territory. This tells what the community expects in terms which none can mistake. A Californian told me to-day that he considered his lands worth forty thousand dollars more than they were before our flag was hoisted. The old office-holders may, perhaps, grumble at the change, but they whose interest lies in the soil silently exult. They desire no ebb in the present tide of political affairs.