LOS GRINGOS. LOS GEINGOS: AN INSIDE VIEW OF MEXICO AND CALIFORNIA, WITH WAN- DERINGS IN PERU, CHILI, AND POLYNESIA. BY LIEUT. WISE. U.S.N, NEW YORK : BAKER AND SGRIBNER, 145 NASSAU STREET AND 30 PARK ROW. 1849. Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1849, by BAKER AND S C R I B N E R , In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York. Printed by C. W. BENEDICT, 301 William street. PREFACE, THE title Los Gringos with which this volume has been chris- tened, is the epithet and rather a reproachful one used in California and Mexico to designate the descendants of the Anglo- Saxon race ; the definition of the word is somewhat similar to that of Greenhorns, in modern parlance, or Mohawks in the days of the Spectator. Although many of the scenes were passed in those countries, yet the narrative takes a wider range, and embraces portions of the South American Continent in Brazil, Chili, and Peru, together with visits to some of the groups of the Pacific at the Sandwich, Marquesas and Society Islands. The sketches embodied in the narrative were all written on the field of their occurrence : the characters incidentally mentioned are frequently noms de mer. It is not expected by the Author that even the most charitable reader will wholly overlook the careless style and framing of the work, or allow it to pass without censure ; nor has it been his object to deal in statistics, or any abstract reflections, but merely to compile a pleasant narrative, such as may perchance please or 2036010 vi PREFACE. interest the generality of readers ; and in launching the volume on its natural element the sea of public opinion the Author only indulges in the aspiration whether the reader be gentle or ungentle whether the book be praised or condemned that at least the philanthropy of the Publishers may be remunerated, wherein lies all the law and the profits. NEW YORK, October y 1849. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. PACK "We sail from Boston, and how we felt. Cure for Sea-Sickness. Delights of the Ocean. Crossing the Equator. What the Mess was composed of. We become reconciled to our Fate. Pass Cape Frio, and have no Inclination to bivouac on the Rorks . 1 CHAPTER II. Rio Janeiro, and what is to be seen there. Life in the City. Diamonds and Levites. Police. Cookery and Currency. The Omnibus Jehu to Boto Fogo . CHAPTER III. Gloria Hill. II Cateto. Architecture. Visit from a Scorpion, and the Habit* of other Reptiles. The Opera. The Emperor and Court. The Brazilians think of carrying the War into Africa ..... ; . CHAPTER IV. We leave Rio, and march towards the Horn. Man overboard and drowned. La Plata. We take an Albatros. Terra del Fuego. Pitch of the Cape. A Marine dies. How the Yankee Corvette doubled Cape Horn. What we did for Pas- time. Dr. Faustus .-The Island of Chiloe . , 20 CONTENTS. CHAPTER V. CHAPTER VI, Weigh Anchor, with some Trouble and Broken Bones. Bid adieu to Pleasures of the Shore. Islands of St. Ambrose and Felix. We lose some Shipmates. Alta California. Monterey . . 38 CHAPTER VII. Summary of Events Preceding our Arrival. Difficulties between Fremont and Castro. Operations of Naval Forces. Skirmish at San Pascual. Battles of San Gabriel and La Mesa. The Volunteers Disbanded 41 CHAPTER VIII. Town of Monterey. Our First Impressions. Days of Barricades. Sentinels. The Rocky-Mountain Men. Keg of Whiskey, and the Use it was put to. The Trap- per's little Anecdote concerning Old Ginger and the Indians . . .47 CHAPTER IX. Treaty of Los Angeles. The Lady that had a Strange Taste in Jewelry. The Disregard of Soap in those Countries. Visit to an Extensive Establishment. The Dofia herself, with her Small Family and Prospects 58 CHAPTER X. Mission of Carmelo. Tramp m the Mountains. Wolves and Venison. We be- come bewildered, but encounter a Guide. Boudoirs for Damsels. The Fan- dango. How the Gentlemen amused themselves. We take to Hunting for Pastime. Climate. Juaquinito and his Mama. Plains of Salinas. Bill Ander- son, his Windmill and HistoryWild Geese.-Native Entertainment . . 68 CONTENTS. CHAPTER XI. fAO Maritime Alps of California. Entrance to Bay of San Francisco. Yerbabuena. Society. Pranks on Horses. Saddles. New York Regiment. The Cannibal Emigrants, and the Dutchman's Appetite ; with Baptiste's Remarks thereon. Perils of Emigration 59 CHAPTER XII. Sousoulito. The Belle of California. The Bears of the same, who chase us. Angel Island. Deer and Elk Shooting 7