IMPRESSIONS OF CALIFORNIA 271 



It just strikes me that you perhaps have no correct idea 

 about what is meant by the descriptive phrase, "clipper- 

 built." I left three small models at home, two not fin- 

 ished, one, a side-wheel steamer, the other a screw- 

 steamer, the latter, though hardly sharp enough, resem- 

 bles a "clipper." 



January 24th, 1853. 



Do not be astonished if my words flow more glibly and 

 manifest a more cheerful spirit than those, which I ad- 

 dressed to you on the thirteenth of this month. The 

 cause of it is easily explained. I feel myself gaining in 

 strength from day to day and I have every reason to 

 believe, that I shall soon enjoy perfect health; another 

 star has arisen on my present horizon : prospect of steady 

 employment, which assures a steady income; and, last 

 but not least, I received the day before yesterday by the 

 mail steamer "Tennessee" your letter of November the 

 sixth of last year. Of this I am anxious to speak first. 



I actually did read your underlined note* first, dear 

 father, but with such trepidation, that its first perusal 

 left me completely bewildered. The second reading met 

 with better success. 



As you had supposed, I was anxious to see first who 

 of my beloved ones had been kind to me this time. I 

 saw, that the dear hand of my mother had rested on the 

 paper; then I perceived Alexandina's cheerful lines and 

 —that was all! Why not a line from my dear and only 

 sister Marie? A dark, a terrible supposition shot through 

 my brain and then my heart ceased to beat! No one will 



*The underlined note here referred to, contained the unwel- 

 come intelligence that his only sister, Marie, was dangerously ill 

 and unable to write to her brother, as had been her usual custom ; 

 there being however but one mail a month, the writers thought 

 it best to forward their own letters. As he would naturally have 

 missed his sister's handwriting at the opening of his mail, they 

 thought of forestalling a prolonged anxiety by notifying him at 

 once of said news. The fact had been minimized, but his sensi- 

 tive nature divined the seriousness of his sister's illness, for never 

 did a brother love his sister more tenderly. — Transl. 



