The men, as a general fact, are well made, with pleasing sprightly countenances, and possessing much grace and ease of manners, and vivacity of conversation.  But hitherto they have had little knowledge of the world and of events, beyond what they have heard through Mexico, and derived from the supercargoes of merchant-ships and whalemen touching upon the coast.  There are no public schools in the country—­at least I never heard of one.  There are but few books.  General Vallejo has a library with many valuable books, and this is the only one I saw, although there are others; but they are rare, and confined to a few families.

The men are almost constantly on horseback, and as horsemen excel any I have seen in other parts of the world.  From the nature of their pursuits and amusements, they have brought horsemanship to a perfection challenging admiration and exciting astonishment.  They are trained to the horse and the use of the lasso (riata, as it is here called) from their infancy.  The first act of a child, when he is able to stand alone, is to throw his toy lasso around the neck of a kitten; his next feat is performed on the dog; his next upon a goat or calf; and so on, until he mounts the horse, and demonstrates his skill upon horses and cattle.  The crowning feat of dexterity with the riata, and of horsemanship, combined with daring courage, is the lassoing of the grisly bear.  This feat is performed frequently upon this large and ferocious animal, but it is sometimes fatal to the performer and his horse.  Well drilled, with experienced military leaders, such as would inspire them with confidence in their skill and prowess, the Californians ought to be the finest cavalry in the world.  The Californian saddle is, I venture to assert, the best that has been invented, for the horse and the rider.  Seated in one of these, it is scarcely possible to be unseated by any ordinary casualty.  The bridle-bit is clumsily made, but so constructed that the horse is compelled to obey the rider upon the slightest intimation.  The spurs are of immense size, but they answer to an experienced horseman the double purpose of exciting the horse, and of maintaining the rider in his seat under difficult circumstances.

For the pleasures of the table they care but little.  With his horse and trappings, his sarape and blanket, a piece of beef and a tortilla, the Californian is content, so far as his personal comforts are concerned.  But he is ardent in his pursuit of amusement and pleasure, and these consist chiefly in the fandango, the game of monte, horse-racing, and bull and bear-baiting.  They gamble freely and desperately, but pay their losses with the most strict punctuality, at any and every sacrifice, and manifest but little concern about them.  They are obedient to their magistrates, and in all disputed cases decided by them, acquiesce without uttering a word of complaint.  They have been accused of treachery and insincerity.  Whatever may have been the grounds for these accusations in particular instances, I know not; but, judging from my own observation and experience, they are as free from these qualities as our own people.