Page:California Inter Pocula.djvu/302



taken the  fugitives  undoubtedly  would  have  made  a desperate  resistance.

Yerba Buena  cemetery  could  tell  some  strange  tales if its  dead  could  speak. Little dreamed  the  grave- diggers of  those  days  that  these  dreary  acres  dotted with chaparral  and  sage-brush  beneath,  with  here and there  diminutive  oaks  and  stunted  laurel  which hid the  timid  hare, while  the  howling  coyote  prowled not far  off;  that  this  uninviting  wilderness  should  so soon  be  laid  out  in  broad  streets  whose  sides  should be lined  with  beautiful  residences,  and  that  from  the very spot  where  were  then  deposited  the  tired  bones of the  argonauts  should  so  soon  arise  the  magnificent city hall  of  this  young,  giant  metropolis.

There was  one  solitary  manzanita  with  blood-red stalk and  ever-sfreen  leaves  which  looked  as  if  it  had strayed from  some  happy  valley  of  the  Coast  Range, hidden from  the  rude  blasts  of  ocean. It seemed  out of place  here,  this  bloody  red  and  green  shrub,  midst the ghastly  white  of  dead  humanity. It was  a  sor- rowful looking place,  harboring  the  remains  of  sor- rowful men.

It was  in  February  1850  that  the  ayuntamiento set aside  there  shifting  sands  for  burial  purposes. In 1857 an  old  fence  enclosed  the  sacred  ground,  entrance to which  was  made  through  a  dilapidated  gate. The place was  sadly  neglected,  the  paths  in  places  entirely obliterated, and  the  grove  approached  only  by  wad- ing ankle deep  in  sand. There in  a  dismal  pit, twenty-five by  eighty  feet,  lay  the  bones  of  800  pio- neers, piled side  by  side,  and  one  above  another,  a strange  medley,  and  whose  flitting  ghosts  could  each tell its  own  strange  story.

Beside this  mammoth  sepulchre  was  the  bone- bleaching ground  of  the  Celestials,  where  the  disin- terred bodies of  dead  Chinamen  were  whitened  and dried by  the  bonfire  made  of  their  own  redwood  coffins. When properly  cured,  these  precious  relics  were  care- fully packed in  strong  boxes,  and  shipped  to  the  angel-