December 7.—­Ice, the first I have seen since entering California, formed in the branch, of the thickness of window-glass.  We reached the valley of the Salinas about eleven o’clock A.M., and encamped for the day.  The river Salinas (laid down in some maps as Rio San Buenaventura) rises in the mountains to the south, and has a course of some sixty or eighty miles, emptying into the Pacific about twelve miles north of Monterey.  The valley, as it approaches the ocean, is broad and fertile, and there are many fine ranchos upon it.  But, higher up, the stream becomes dry in the summer, and the soil of the valley is arid and sandy.  The width of the stream at this point is about thirty yards.  Its banks are skirted by narrow belts of small timber.  A range of elevated mountains rises between this valley and the coast.  A court-martial was held to-day, for the trial of sundry offenders.  Distance 8 miles.

December 8.—­Morning cool, clear, and pleasant.  Two Californians were arrested by the rear-guard near a deserted rancho, and brought into camp.  One of them turned out to be a person known to be friendly to the Americans.  There has been but little variation in the soil or scenery.  But few attempts appear to have been made to settle this portion of California.  The thefts and hostilities of the Tular Indians are said to be one of the causes preventing its settlement.  Distance 15 miles.

December 9.—­The mornings are cool, but the middle of the day is too warm to ride comfortably with our coats on.  Our march has been fatiguing and difficult, through several brushy ravines and over steep and elevated hills.  Many horses gave out as usual, and were left, from inability to travel.  Our caballada is diminishing rapidly.  Distance 10 miles.

December 10.—­Our march has been on the main beaten trail, dry and hard, and over a comparatively level country.  We passed the mission of San Miguel about three o’clock, and encamped in a grove of large oak timber, three or four miles south of it.  This mission is situated on the upper waters of the Salinas, in an extensive plain.  Under the administration of the padres it was a wealthy establishment, and manufactures of various kinds were carried on.  They raised immense numbers of sheep, the fleeces of which were manufactured by the Indians into blankets and coarse cloths.  Their granaries were filled with an abundance of maize and frijoles, and their store-rooms with other necessaries of life, from the ranchos belonging to the mission lands in the vicinity.  Now all the buildings, except the church and the principal range of houses contiguous, have fallen into ruins, and an Englishman, his wife, and one small child, with two or three Indian servants, are the sole inhabitants.  The church is the largest I have seen in the country, and its interior is in good repair, although it has not probably been used for the purpose of public worship for many years.  The Englishman professes to have purchased the mission and all the lands belonging to it for 300 dollars.