_September 18_.--Early this morning a bullock was brought up and
slaughtered in front of the house. The process of slaughtering a beef
is as follows: a _vaquero_, mounted on a trained horse, and provided
with a lasso, proceeds to the place where the herd is grazing.
Selecting an animal, he soon secures it by throwing the noose of the
lasso over the horns, and fastening the other end around the pommel of
the saddle. During the first struggles of the animal for liberty, which
usually are very violent, the vaquero sits firmly in his seat, and
keeps his horse in such a position that the fury and strength of the
beast are wasted without producing any other result than his own
exhaustion. The animal, soon ascertaining that he cannot release
himself from the rope, submits to be pulled along to the place of
execution. Arriving here, the vaquero winds the lasso round the legs of
the doomed beast, and throws him to the ground, where he lies perfectly
helpless and motionless. Dismounting from his horse, he then takes from
his leggin the butcher-knife that he always carries with him, and
sticks the animal in the throat. He soon bleeds to death, when, in an
incredibly short space of time for such a performance, the carcass is
flayed and quartered, and the meat is either roasting before the fire
or simmering in the stew-pan. The _lassoing_ and slaughter of a bullock
is one of the most exciting sports of the Californians; and the daring
horsemanship and dexterous use of the lariat usually displayed on these
occasions are worthy of admiration. I could not but notice the
Golgotha-like aspect of the grounds surrounding the house. The bones of
cattle were thickly strewn in all directions, showing a terrible
slaughter of the four-footed tribe and a prodigious consumption of
flesh.

A _carretada_ of fossil oyster--shells was shown to me by Mr.
Livermore, which had been hauled for the purpose of being manufactured