A Thousand- Mile Walk 



San Francisco by way of the Isthmus was only 

 forty dollars. 



In the mean time I wandered about the city 

 without knowing a single person in it. My walks 

 extended but little beyond sight of my little 

 schooner home. I saw the name Central Park 

 on some of the street-cars and thought I would 

 like to visit it, but, fearing that I might not be 

 able to find my way back, I dared not make the 

 adventure. I felt completely lost in the vast 

 throngs of people, the noise of the streets, and 

 the immense size of the buildings. Often I 

 thought I would like to explore the city if, like 

 a lot of wild hills and valleys, it was clear of 

 inhabitants. 



The day before the sailing of the Panama 

 ship I bought a pocket map of California and 

 allowed myself to be persuaded to buy a dozen 

 large maps, mounted on rollers, with a map of 

 the world on one side and the United States on 

 the other. In vain I said I had no use for them. 

 &quot; But surely you want to make money in Cali 

 fornia, don t you ? Everything out there is very 

 [ 186] 



