LETTER NO. VII 



San Francisco, Jan. 29th, 1852. 



At last I am at my destination and, if I may be per- 

 mitted to judge from the impression which the short stay 

 has given me, I shall have reason to congratulate myself 

 upon the choice of my second fatherland. 



But before I enter into details about San Francisco— 

 details which will make you burn mid-night oil to read— 

 I beg your indulgence for a brief space while continuing 

 my last description— with the help of my faithful diary 

 —the thread of which you followed to the eleventh day 

 of this month. 



The twelfth brought various indications of near-by 

 land, such as the dark-green color of the water, diving 

 ducks (duckers, as the sailors commonly call them), gray 

 birds about the size of our geese. There also appeared 

 floating alongside of our boat the limb of a tree, covered 

 with leaves, a most convincing and welcome proof that 

 the days of our journey were numbered. At about a quar- 

 ter to one, the same afternoon, the joyous shout of land 

 rang out from the fore top, whence the high coast could 

 be observed, both in a Northern and Eastern direction. 

 Soon after we commenced to notice the outlines with the 

 naked eye, as they appeared at considerable length on 

 the Eastern horizon. The sea grew calmer and the air 

 warmer. As darkness set in we, of course, lost sight of 

 the situation. By four o'clock the next morning we found 

 ourselves close to the Farallones Cliffs and had hard work 

 to keep the ship away from them, in which attempt we 

 were particularly fortunate, as the moon shone brightly 

 during that beautiful night. However, we were com- 

 pelled to reverse our course, and as the wind changed 

 considerably back and forth during the early morning, 



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