IMPRESSIONS OF CALIFORNIA 267 



eyes. Not only have frame and sheet-iron buildings been 

 torn down and replaced by magnificent brick buildings, 

 and new ones been added; but whole streets have been 

 opened and built up; and where as late as last January 

 large ships have discharged or taken in cargo, there you 

 may see to-day buildings two and three stories high on 

 solid foundations; and on the very spot where we pas- 

 sengers of the "Aurora" managed to land by climbing 

 the narrow ladder on the California wharf— one may now 

 take his cup of chocolate in a beautifully furnished estab- 

 lishment and may indulge in finest confectionery. Streets, 

 where we had formerly to climb up or down like a goat, 

 are now graded,— and steadily is that steam-engine at 

 work, which I have described to you in a former letter, 

 in leveling down hills and in filling in that part of the 

 bay, over which the city will extend. 



Every day shows new improvements, and the varie- 

 gated styles and the different colors of the material used 

 in building, produce an effect at once odd and attractive, 

 such as one may not find in any other city. A veritable 

 fairy-land panorama unfolds itself before one's eyes, if, 

 on a clear, bright day he ascends one of those hills which 

 surround the city in a semi-circle. They are already so 

 densely covered with cottages and villas that they may be 

 considered as forming part of the city. The observer 

 standing upon one of those eminences can view the great 

 mass of buildings of the western metropolis at his feet. 

 The wide streets run straight as a ray of light, and the 

 busy throng of humanity that flows through them from 

 early morn till late at night, represents all nationalities 

 on earth, and is a sight worth seeing. A little beyond, 

 near the wharves, the throng seems even to increase. 

 Here hundreds of the largest and most magnificent ships 

 of the world are either at the wharves, unloading or tak- 

 ing in cargo, while those which are not in dock for re- 

 pairs of damages suffered during a long voyage upon the 

 more or less tempestuous sea, are to be seen in the bay, 

 majestically resting at anchor. And this beautiful bay! 

 Its blue waters are glistening in the bright sunshine and, 



