IN THE PACIFIC. 261 



San Francisco, so that, as he explained, his 

 customers could be supplied with the best 

 article at the shortest notice and at the 

 lowest possible price. Besides these, he had 

 a large collection of assorted wine labels, fac- 

 similes of the most famous brands, to be placed 

 on his own bottles, containing the most 

 abominable compounds. On my asking him if 

 he considered this style of dealing to be honest, 

 he said, " Well, captain, fact is, when I was 

 in California, I went to a phrenologist, who 

 examined my head carefully for some time 

 without remark ; at last he exclaimed, ' Why, 

 sir, you must be a scoundrel ! ' and he 

 added, with ingenuous candour, ' I am a 

 scoundrel.' ' 



Whilst here, I took another run up to Tepic, 

 accompanied by one of our officers, and a 

 couple of bluejackets as a guard. We took 

 our places in the diligence before daylight, 

 and were consequently unable to see the faces 

 of our fellow-passengers, until we arrived at 

 Navaretti, where we stopped to breakfast. We 



