Sketches of the campaign in northern Mexico : in eighteen hundred forty-six and seven / by an officer of the First Regiment of Ohio volunteers.

234 THE SIERRA SILLA.
private property is an odious feature of ocean warfare; and
for the abolition of which, it is to be hoped that all civilized
nations will hasten to unite. It has recently been justly
denounced as " the vicious relic of a barbarous age," and is
fostered by a spirit but little better than that of the old Flibustiers of Barrataria. The only public property, other than
munitions of war, captured at Monterey, consisted of cigars,
which were distributed among the troops. Tobacco, it is
known to most of our readers, is one of the articles monopolized by the Mexican government, and is a source of very
large revenue. Its culture is prohibited, except in certain
districts, and even in those, is restricted to a limited number
of farmers. The tobacco produced is purchased by the government at a price barely sufficient to compensate the planter,
and after being manufactured by public agents is re-sold at
enormous profits.
There are some interesting and notable sights in the neighborhood of Monterey, but which the claims of duty never
allowed me time to examine. I was particularly anxious to
obtain a view of the landscape from the summit of the Sierra
Silla, and which for extent, beauty, and sublimity, was represented as being unsurpassed in the observation of those of our
people who accomplished the ascent. That lofty mountain is
seen far and wide over the plains, and in all the long array of
giant peaks, is the first to challenge the rising sun and the last
to witness his departure. It wears the usual conical form of
volcanic mountains, and the curious saddle-shaped depression
in its top, may have been caused by the falling in of the
ancient crater. A geological reconnoissance would per