Their cellars were well filled with Constantia wine, their
gardens highly cultivated, their poultry fat and tender, and their game
always had a particular flavour. Had I remained there a few months more,
I might have taken the vows myself, so well did that lazy, comfortable
life agree with my taste; but the Californians had been as active as
they had promised to be, and their emissaries came to San Francisco to
settle the conditions under which I was to lend my aid. Events were
thickening; there was no retreat for me, and I prepared for action.
After a hasty, though hearty, farewell to my pious and liberal
entertainers, I returned to the settlement, to prepare for the opening
of the drama, which would lead some of us either to absolute power or to
the scaffold.
Six weeks after my quitting San Francisco, I was once more in the field,
and ready for an encounter against the troops dispatched from St. Miguel
of Senora, and other central garrisons. On hearing of the defeat of the
two governors, about 120 Californians, from Monterey and San Francisco,
had joined my forces, either excited by their natural martial spirit, or
probably with views of ambition similar to my own.
I had with me 1,200 Indians, well equipped and well mounted; but, on
this occasion, my own Shoshones were in greater numbers than our new
allies.
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