California Farmer and Journal of Useful Sciences, Volume 4, Number 7, 17 August 1855 — CALIFORNIA. [ARTICLE]

[For the California Farmer.]

CALIFORNIA.

On the confines of Columbia's unmeneured waste, By the mighty Pacific and Sierras encased, Is a land which for ages was suffered to lay As it wan at creation's first opening day ; When the stars with delight all in harmony sang, And legions of heaven to her parai>ots sprang, As the ends of the earth here in union did meet • And the Maker of all saw his labors complete : While, perhaps, it was here that He lingering stood, To pronounce of bis works—" they are all very good." Here the Sabbath that followed was long undisturbed, In which naught but the voices of Nature were heard: While the quick salmon's plunge 'neath the cataracts roar, And the high swelling tide, as it beat on the shore, Formed an encircling choir, together to raise, To their God and c jntroller loud anthems of praise. In this spot, hid from view and unknown to the world, No peaceful arts entered, no war fangs were hurled; But robed in the richness of Nature's bestowing, Resplendent in beauty the country was glowing. ****** But in half a decade, see what changes arise I For " Eureka" has filled all the world with surprise: It comes from a Switzer, as he holds in his hand, Fresh drawn from the river, California's sand. " I have wandered," he says, "from the land of my birth, Far from home, from my friends—all I loved upon earth; On the deserts been parched, o'er the billows been tossed; Thanked the savage for food, as the mountains I crossed; Been exposed to wild beasts, to the storms and the dewAll that chequered the track of the Wandering Jew; Till a land I have found that is richer in gold, Than the mines of Peru, or the Ophir of old." The effect of that word puzzles mortals to tell; But I think more of good than of evil befell, For the Saxons flood in, on the surf from the west, And in torrents rush down, from the high mountain crest: Like locusts to Egypt, from the east they come in, All active and greedy, full of bustle and din. Splendid cities they rear where the chaparral grew, Unsurpassed by many, unequalled by few. The farms of the country with its prolific soil, Yield abundance to all, through the husbandman's toil. It would tire me to tell all the blessings that flow From opening the placers, but will say as I go, That but five years have passed since the grizzlys did roam, Where we hear "Betty" singing "There's noplace like home." •49