We continued down the right bank of the river, traveling for a while over a wooded upland, where we had the delight to discover tracks of cattle. To the southwest was visible a black column of smoke, which we had frequently noticed in descending, arising from the fires we had seen from the top of the Sierra. From the upland we descended into broad groves on the river, consisting of the evergreen, and a new species of a white oak, with a large tufted top, and three to six feet in diameter. Among these was no brushwood; and the grassy surface gave to it the appearance of parks in an old-settled country. Following the tracks of the horses and cattle, in search of people, we discovered a small village of Indians. Some of these had on shirts of civilized manufacture, but were otherwise naked, and we could understand nothing from them: they appeared entirely astonished at seeing us.

We made an acorn meal at noon, and hurried on; the valley being gay with flowers, and some of the banks being absolutely golden_with the Californian poppy. Here the grass was smooth and green, and the groves very open; the large oaks throwing a broad shade among sunny spots. Shortly afterwards we gave a shout at the appearance, on a little bluff, of a neatly-built adobe house, with glass windows. We rode up, but, to our disappointment, found only Indians. There was no appearance of cultivation, and we could see no cattle; and we supposed the place had been abandoned. We now pressed on more eagerly than ever the river swept round a large bend to the right; the hills lowered down entirely; and, gradually entering a broad valley, we came unexpectedly into a large Indian village, where the people looked clean, and wore cotton shirts and various other articles of dress. They immediately crowded around us, and we had the inexpressible delight to find one who spoke a little indifferent Spanish, but who at first confounded us by say. ing there were no whites in the country; but just then a well-dressed Indian came up, and made his salutations in very well-spoken Spanish. In answer to our inquiries, he informed us that we were upon the Rio de los Americanos, (the river of the Americans,) and that it joined the Sacramento river about ten miles below. Never did a name sound more sweetly! We felt ourselves among our countrymen; for the name of American, in these distant parts, is applied to the citizens of the United States. To our eager inquiries he answered, "I am a vaquero (cowherd) in the service of Capt. Sutter, and the people of this rancheria work for him." Our evident satisfaction made him communicative; and he went on to say that Capt. Sutter was a very rich man, and always glad to see his country people. We asked for his house. He answered, that it was just over the hill before us; and offered, if we would wait a moment, to take his horse and conduct us to it. We read

ily accepted this civil offer. In a short distance we came in sight of the fort; and, passing on the way the house of a settler on the opposite side, (a Mr. Sinclair,) we forded the river; and in a few miles were met, a short distance from the fort, by Capt. Sutter himself. He gave us a most frank and cordial reception-conducted us immediately to his resi dence and under his hospitable roof we had a night of rest, enjoyment, and refreshment, which none but ourselves could appreciate. But the

party left in the mountains, with Mr. Fitzpatrick, were to be attended to; and the next morning, supplied with fresh horses and provisions, I hurried off to meet them. On the second day we met, a few miles below the forks of the Rio de los Americanos; and a more forlorn and pitable sight than they presented, cannot well be imagined. They were all on foot. - each man, weak and emaciated, leading a horse or mule as weak and emaciated as themselves. They had experienced great difficulty in descending the mountains, made slippery by rains and melting snows, and many horses fell over precipices, and were killed; and with some were lost the packs they carried. Among these, was a mule with the plants which we had collected since leaving Fort Hall, along a line of 2,000 miles' travel. Out of 67 horses and mules, with which we commenced crossing the Sierra, only 33 reached the valley of the Sacramento, and they only in a condition to be led along. Mr. Fitzpatrick and his party, traveling more slowly, had been able to make some little exertion at hunting, and had killed a few deer. The scanty supply was a great relief to them; for several had been made sick by the strange and unwholesome food which the preservation of life compelled them to use. We stopped and encamped as soon as we met; and a repast of good beef, excellent bread, and delicious salmon, which I had brought along, was their first relief from the sufferings of the Sierra, and their first introduction to the luxuries of the Sacramento. It required all our philosophy and forbearance to prevent plenty from becoming as hurtful to us now, as scarcity had been before.

The next day, March 8th, we encamped at the junction of the two rivers, the Sacramento and Americanos; and thus found the whole party in the beautiful valley of the Sacramento. It was a convenient place for the camp; and, among other things, was within reach of the wood necessary to make the pack-saddles, which we should need on our long journey home, from which we were farther distant now than we were four months before, when from the Dalles of the Columbia we so cheerfully took up the homeward line of march.

2.

STATES AND TERRITORIES.

KENTUCKY.

THE State of Kentucky, formed from territory of Virginia, is, in point of seniority, the fifteenth State of the American Union, having been admitted to that relationship by Act of Congress on the first of June, 1792. The first Constitution of the State was submitted to Congress November 7, 1792, and a new or revised Constitution was adopted August 17, 1799. Kentucky participated in the second presidential election (1793), when George Washington was re-elected President, and John Adams Vice-President; on which occasion Richard C. Anderson and Charles Scott served as Electors for the State at large, and Benjamin Logan and Notley Conn for the District Electors. The State is situate between 36° 30′ and 39° 10′ north latitude, and between 81° 50′ and 89° 26' west longtitude, being about 300 miles in length from east to west, and about 180 in its greatest and 150 in average width, and includes an area of nearly 37,680 square miles, or 24,115,200 acres, most of which is in cultivation. The State is bounded on the north and north-west by the Ohio River, which separates it from the States of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois; on the east by Big Sandy River and Cumberland Mountains, which divide it from Virginia; on the south by the State of Tennessee; and on the west by the Mississippi River, which separates it from the State of Missouri.

CLIMATE. The climate of Kentucky, as indicated by its local position, is a happy medium between the frigid severity of more northern and the enervating insalubrity of more southern latitudes. No region of our country is better adapted to the production of cereals, grapes, and fruits, or the highest development of the human physique. Though subject to capricious changes in the winter and vernal months, the climate is milder than in the same latitude on the Atlantic slope of the Alleghanies.

FACE OF THE COUNTRY.-The country presents a varied aspect in its several portions. In the south-east, at the boundary and through several counties, the Cumberland Mountains are a prominent feature. Those in their vicinity are studded by isolated knobs and ridges; but none of them of great elevation, the highest being less than 2,000 feet.

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