262 EAST PRUSSIA TO THE GOLDEN GATE 



covering the deck from one side to the other and almost 

 from end to end, leaving only a small portion of the deck 

 forward, open, and uncovered. The lower part of this 

 structure which usually is open all around, or at the most 

 only partly covered in, is taken up by the machinery, — 

 the boilers are in the forward part of the vessel, entirely 

 uncovered— and is used for freight; the second or upper 

 story of this building however contains usually, an ele- 

 gant cabin, so constructed, that only a sort of veranda 

 extends all around it, to be used as a promenade in fair 

 weather. On the forward part of the upper deck, or in 

 most cases on top of it— thus forming a third story — 

 is the wheelhouse. "With small variations nearly all 

 American river steamers, from the largest to the small- 

 est, have the same, or very similar construction, the ap- 

 propriateness of which is evident, since it enables them 

 to carry an incredibly large number of passengers. 



Between here and Stockton on the San Joaquin river, 

 the central place for the Southern mines, there run ten 

 or twelve large high pressure steamers, making regular 

 trips; between here and Sacramento there are probably 

 no less than fifteen of them; not counting those which go 

 direct to Marysville. How does that compare with 

 Konigsberg, which after preliminaries extending through 

 several years, has succeeded in establishing communica- 

 tion with Stettin by means of two old, almost un- 

 serviceable steamships? All these steamers here have 

 plenty to do, especially in carrying passengers, and there 

 is nothing more interesting than a trip on one of them — 

 some of them being 100 feet long with a 60-foot wide 

 deck — to Sacramento for instance. This trip occupies 

 generally from 13 to 14 hours, the fare being 5 dollars 

 on deck and 10 dollars in the cabin. Nowhere has one a 

 better opportunity to notice the cosmopolitan character 

 of the population here, than on board of one of these 

 steamers, where he finds Americans, Germans, French- 

 men, Mexicans, Chilians, Spaniards, Dutch, English, 

 Danes, Swedes and Norwegians, Mnlattoes, Negroes and 

 Chinamen, — all crowded together on the same deck. 



