“There are in California, as in the most beautiful countries of the world, large plains, pleasant valleys, excellent pastures, at all times, for great and small cattle; fine springs of running water, and brooks and rivers with their banks covered with willows, reeds, and wild vines.
In their rivers they have plenty of fish, especially cray-fish, which they keep in conservatories, till they have occasion for them. There are also plenty of xicames of a better taste than those in Mexico. On the mountains there are, all the year long, mescales, a fruit peculiar to this country; and in most seasons, large pistachios of several sorts, and figs of different colors.
This country abounds also in grain; of which there are fourteen sorts that the people feed on. They use the roots of trees and plants, and among others, those of the Yyuca, to make their bread. There are excellent skirrets; a sort of red strawberries, of which they eat plentifully; and citrons and water melons of an extraordinary size.
The land is so good, that most plants bear fruit three times a year: so that with some labour in cultivating it, and skill in managing the water, they render the country extremely fertile. As for fowls, there are in California pigeons, turtle-doves, larks, partridges of an exquisite taste and in great quantities, geese, ducks, and many other sorts both of river and sea-fowls.The sea affords great plenty of very good fish. They take pilchers, anchovies, and tunnys; which last they catch with their hands on the shore.”
– The Philosophical Transactions, by Benjamin Motte, circa 1720