CHAPTER XII.

Term of Enlistment Expires--Battalion Members Preparing to Return to their Families--One company Re-enlists--An Insolent Spaniard--Pistol Snapped in the Writer's Face--Almost a Deathblow--Desperate Fight Stopped by Bystanders--Serious Trouble with Another Spaniard--Learn the Lesson to Avoid those who Gamble or Drink Intoxicants--Spanish Character--Class of California's Inhabitants in 1847--Condition of the Country--Appearance of the Towns and Villages--Difficulty in Securing an Outfit for Members of the Battalion to Journey Eastward.