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DAWN

AND

THE DONS 162

Comodore Sloat met at Monterey in 1846, and among whom Colton lived for more than two years, inhabited a little world of their own making into which had never entered the jealousies and rivalries born of selfishness and greed.

Next to the people, Colton seems to have been most impressed by the climate. He says in an entry of November 28, 1846, “It is now near the close of that month which in other climes is often one of the most unpleasant in the year; but here it has been one of unrivaled brilliancy. The sky has been almost without a cloud, the winds have slept, and the soft air has lain on the landscape like a golden slumber. Such is the tranquil beauty in which the vernal year here sinks to repose.” Again, on December 19, “The season is now verging on midwinter, and we have not had the first wrinkling frost. The hills and valleys since the recent rains, are mantled with fresh verdure, and here and there the violet opens its purple eye to the sun. The children are out at play as in June; their glancing feet are unshod, and their