DESCRIPTION OF SCENERY. 87 



sent a courier overland to announce my arrival 

 at the mission. 



The bay of St. Francisco is full ninety miles 

 in circuit : it is divided by islands into two 

 pretty equally sized basins, a northern and a 

 southern. On the banks of the southern, which 

 takes an easterly direction, lie the three mis- 

 sions, St. Francisco, Santa Clara, and St. Jose. 

 Of the northern half of the bay I will speak 

 hereafter. 



On the morning of the 28th of September, 

 the Barcasse was ready, and equipped with 

 every thing necessary for our little voyage. 

 Favoured both by wind and tide, we sailed 

 eastward past many charming islands and pro- 

 montories, to the mission of Santa Clara, which 

 lay at a distance of five-and- twenty miles, in a 

 straight line from the ship. The country pre- 

 sented on all sides a picture of beauty and 

 fertility : the shores are of a moderate elevation, 

 and covered with a brilliant verdure ; the hills, 

 towards the interior, swell gently into an am- 

 phitheatre, and the background is formed by 

 high thick woods. Groves of oaks are scat- 

 tered upon the slopes, separated by lovely 



