Every man, both honest and dishonest, in California, has his own horse--as a very good-looking, active one can be purchased, tamed to carry the saddle and rider, from the Indians, for four or five dollars; so that every one, I may add, of both sexes, ride in California. No one walks far but the hunter, and he is carried in canoe a long way up the river before he strikes into the forest after the animals he is in pursuit of. This last class of men are the most wild, daring, yet friendly and honest, of the lower class of the white population of California. Well: as the robber as well as the honest man are equally mounted, sometimes a very interesting steeple chase ensues,--ground rough, not being previously chosen, occasionally leaping over pools of water, large stones, and fallen trees. The Indians who use the lasso, generally keep the lead, to strive to throw the noose over either the man or horse they are pursuing. It is made of thongs of bullock-hide twisted into a small rope about thirty or forty feet long, with a noose formed by a running knot at the end of it. One end of the lasso is fastened to the back of the saddle: the entire length of it is kept in a coil on the right hand, and after two or three swings of it over their heads, they will throw it with such accuracy that the smallest object will come within the noose. Thus, then, if an equestrian traveler does not keep a good look-out as he is passing by a bush or thicket, one of these lassoes may be thrown out; the noose, falling over his head, will be jerked tight round his body, and, in the twinkling of an eye, he will be dragged off his horse, and away into the bush, to be stripped of everything he has. By all the accounts I have heard, and from what I have seen, the robbers of California are the most active in the world: the end of the dangerous lasso being firmly fastened to the saddle, enables the rider, as soon as his victim, either man or animal, is noosed, to wheel round his horse, and dash off like an Arab, dragging whatever he has fast after him. There is one method of averting the fall of the lasso noose over the body of a man, either on foot or horseback. If he holds, as he always ought, either sword or gun in his right hand, when he sees the lasso coming, let him instantly raise either and his arm in a horizontal position, and if the noose does fall true, it cannot run farther down, being stopped by sword, gun, or extended arm; then fling it off quick, or it may be jerked tight round the neck. I have known this subterfuge save many a man from robbers and perhaps murderers.

I once hunted for three months in company with a hunter well known in California. In idea, he was wild and imaginative in the extreme; but, in his acts of daring, &c., the most cool and philosophic fellow I ever knew. A commercianto, or merchant, at San Francisco, on whose veracity I know from experience I can depend, told me the following story of this man, which will at once illustrate his general character. This hunter was, some months before I had fallen in with him, making the best of his way down the valley of the Tule Lakes from the interior, with a heavy pack of furs on his back, his never-erring rifle in his hand, and his two dogs by his side. He was joined at the northermost end of the valley by the merchant I had spoken of, who was armed only with sword and pistols. They had scarcely cleared the valley, when a party of robbers galloped out before them. There were four whites, fully armed, and two Indians with the lassos coiled up in their right hands, ready for a throw. The hunter told the merchant, who was on horseback, to dismount instantly, "and to cover." Fortunately for them, there was a good deal of thicket, and trunks of large trees that had fallen were strewed about in a very desirable manner. Behind these logs the merchant and the hunter quickly took up their position, and as they were in the act of doing so, two or three shots were fired after them without effect. The hunter coolly untied the pack of furs from his back, and laid them beside him. "It's my opinion, merchant," said he, "that them varmint there wants either your saddle-bags or my pack, but I reckon they'll get neither." So he took up his rifle, fired, and the foremost Indian, lasso in hand, rolled off his horse. Another discharge from the rifle, and the second Indian fell, while in the act of throwing his lasso at the head and shoulders of the hunter, as he raised himself from behind the log to fire. "Now," said the hunter, as he reloaded, laying on his back to avoid the shots of the robbers, "that's what I call the best of the scrimmage, to get them brown thieves with their lassoes out of the way first. See them rascally whites now jumping over the logs to charge us in our cover." They were fast advancing, when the rifle again spoke out, and the foremost fell; they still came on to within about thirty yards, when another fell; and the remaining two made a desperate charge up close to the log. The hunter, from long practice, was dexterous in reloading his gun. "Now, merchant," said he, "is the time for your pop-guns, (meaning the pistols,) and don't be at all narvous, keep a steady hand, and drop either man or horse. A man of them shan't escape." The two remaining robbers were now up with the log, and fired each a pistol-shot at the hunter, which he escaped by dodging behind a tree close to, from which he fired with effect. As only one robber was left, he wheeled round his horse with the intention of galloping off, when the pistol-bullets of the merchant shot the horse from under him. "Well done, merchant," said the hunter, "you've stopped that fellow's galop." As soon as the robber could disentangle himself from the fallen horse, he took to his heels and ran down a sloping ground as fast as he could. The hunter drew his tomahawk from his belt, and gave chase after him. As he was more of an equestrian than a pedestrian, the nimbleness of the hunter soon shortened the distance between them, and the last of the robbers fell. Thus perished this dangerous gang of six, by the single hand of this brave hunter, and, as the "commercianto" informed me, he acted as coolly and deliberately as if he were shooting tame bullocks for the market. The affair was rather advantageous to the hunter, for, on searching the saddle-bags and pockets of the robbers, he pulled forth some doubloons, and a few dollars, with other valuables they had, no doubt, a short time previously, taken from some traveler; the saddle-bags, arms, and accouterments of the four white men, were packed up, made fast on the saddles of the two horses, and the hunter mounted a third, the merchant mounted another, his horse being shot, and thus they left the scene of action, the bodies of the robbers to the wolves, who were howling about them, and entered San Francisco in triumph.