A more miserably clad, wretchedly provided, and unprepossessing military host, probably never entered a civilized city.  In all, except our order, deportment, and arms, we might have been mistaken for a procession of tatterdemalions, or a tribe of Nomades from Tartary.  There were not many of us so fortunate as to have in our possession an entire outside garment; and several were without hats or shoes, or a complete covering to their bodies.  But that we had at last reached the terminus of a long and laborious march, attended with hardships, exposure, and privation rarely suffered, was a matter of such heartfelt congratulation, that these comparatively trifling inconveniences were not thought of.  Men never, probably, in the entire history of military transactions, bore these privations with more fortitude or uttered fewer complaints.

We had now arrived at the abode of the celestials, if the interpretation of the name of the place could be considered as indicative of the character of its population, and drenched with rain and plastered with mud, we entered the “City of the Angels,” and marched through its principal street to our temporary quarters.  We found the town, as we expected, in the possession of the United States naval and military forces under the command of Commodore Stockton and General Kearny, who, after two engagements with six hundred mounted Californians on the 8th and 9th, had marched into the city on the 10th.  The town was almost entirely deserted by its inhabitants, and most of the houses, except those belonging to foreigners, or occupied as quarters for the troops, were closed.  I met here many of the naval officers whose agreeable acquaintance I had made at San Francisco.  Among others were Lieutenants Thompson, Hunter, Gray and Rhenshaw, and Captain Zeilin of the marines, all of whom had marched from San Diego.  Distance 12 miles.

CHAPTER XII.

  City of Angels
  Gardens
  Vineyards
  Produce of the vine in California
  General products of the country
  Reputed personal charms of the females of Los Angeles
  San Diego
  Gold and quicksilver mines
  Lower California
  Bituminous springs
  Wines
  A Kentuckian among the angels
  Missions of San Gabriel and San Luis Rey
  Gen. Kearny and Com.  Stockton leave for San Diego
  Col.  Fremont appointed Governor of California by Com.  Stockton
  Com.  Shubrick’s arrival
  Insurrection in the northern part of California suppressed
  Arrival of Col.  Cooke at San Diego.