112 BAY OF ST. FRANCISCO. 



by nature for an excellent harbour; but the 

 little creeks about the north-west coast, now 

 lying to our left, and which I have since fre- 

 quently visited, are especially advantageous for 

 repairs, being so deep that the largest vessels 

 can lie conveniently close to the land ; and an 

 abundance of the finest wood for ship-building, 

 even for the tallest masts, is found in the imme- 

 diate neighbourhood. The whole of the north- 

 ern part of the bay, which does not properly 

 belong to California, but is assigned by geo- 

 graphers to New Albion, has hitherto remained 

 unvisited by voyagers, and little known even to 

 the Spaniards residing in the country. Two 

 large navigable rivers, which 1 afterwards sur- 

 veyed, empty themselves into it, one from the 

 north, the other from the east. The land is 

 extremely fruitful, and the climate is perhaps 

 the finest and most healthy in the world. It 

 has hitherto been the fate of these regions, like 

 that of modest merit or humble virtue, to re- 

 main unnoticed ; but posterity will do them 

 justice; towns and cities will hereafter flourish 

 where all is now desert ; the waters, over which 

 scarcely a solitary boat is yet seen to glide, will 



