The Californians are an idle, thriftless people, and can make nothing for themselves.  The country abounds in grapes, yet they buy, at a great price, bad wine made in Boston and brought round by us, and retail it among themselves at a real (12 1/2 cents) by the small wineglass.  Their hides, too, which they value at two dollars in money, they barter for something which costs seventy-five cents in Boston; and buy shoes (as like as not made of their own hides, which have been carried twice round Cape Horn) at three and four dollars, and ``chicken-skin boots’’ at fifteen dollars a pair.  Things sell, on an average, at an advance of nearly three hundred per cent upon the Boston prices.  This is partly owing to the heavy duties which the government, in their wisdom, with an idea, no doubt, of keeping the silver in the country, has laid upon imports.  These duties, and the enormous expenses of so long a voyage, keep all merchants but those of heavy capital from engaging in the trade.  Nearly two thirds of all the articles imported into the country from round Cape Horn, for the last six years, have been by the single house of Bryant, Sturgis, & Co., to whom our vessel belonged.

This kind of business was new to us, and we liked it very well for a few days, though we were hard at work every minute from daylight to dark, and sometimes even later.

By being thus continually engaged in transporting passengers, with their goods, to and fro, we gained considerable knowledge of the character, dress, and language of the people.  The dress of the men was as I have before described it.  The women wore gowns of various texture,—­ silks, crape, calicoes, &c.,—­ made after the European style, except that the sleeves were short, leaving the arm bare, and that they were loose about the waist, corsets not being in use.  They wore shoes of kid or satin, sashes or belts of bright colors, and almost always a necklace and ear-rings.  Bonnets they had none.  I only saw one on the coast, and that belonged to the wife of an American sea-captain who had settled in San Diego, and had imported the chaotic mass of straw and ribbon, as a choice present to his new wife.  They wear their hair (which is almost invariably black, or a very dark brown) long in their necks, sometimes loose, and sometimes in long braids; though the married women often do it up on a high comb.  Their only protection against the sun and weather is a large mantle which they put over their heads, drawing it close round their faces, when they go out of doors, which is generally only in pleasant weather.  When in the house, or sitting out in front of it, which they often do in fine weather, they usually wear a small scarf or neckerchief of a rich pattern.  A band, also, about the top of the head, with a cross, star, or other ornament in front, is common.  Their complexions are various, depending—­ as well as their dress and manner—­ upon the amount of Spanish blood they can lay claim to, which also settles their social rank.  Those