THE GOLDEN GATE AND STATE. 157 



con amore. He spent over twelve years on the Pacific coasts of America, and out of that 

 time about seven in the Golden State, California. 



It has been said, " See Naples, and die ! " The reader is recommended to see the 

 glorious Bay of San Francisco before he makes up his mind that there is nought else 

 worthy of note, because he has sailed on the blue waters of the most beautiful of the 

 Mediterranean bays. How well does the writer remember his first sight of the Golden 

 Gate, as the entrance to San Francisco Bay is poetically named ! The good steamer on which 

 he had spent some seventy-five days which had passed over nearly the entire Atlantic, 

 weathered the Horn, and then, with the favouring " trade -winds/'' had sailed and steamed 

 up the Pacific with one grand sweep to California, out of sight of land the whole 

 time was sadly in want of coals when she arrived off that coast, which a dense fog entirely 

 hid from view. The engines were kept going slowly by means of any stray wood 

 on board; valuable spars were sacrificed, and it was even proposed to strip the woodwork 

 out of the steerage, which contained about two hundred men, women, and children. Guns 

 and rockets were fired, but at first with no result, and the prospect was not cheering. 

 But at last the welcome little pilot-boat loomed through the fog, and was soon alongside, 

 and a healthy, jovial-looking pilot came aboard. " You can all have a good dinner to-night 

 ashore," said that excellent seaman to the passengers, " and the sea shan't rob you of it." 

 The fog lifted as the vessel slowly steamed onwards. 



On approaching the entrance to the bay, on the right cliffs and rocks are seen, with 

 a splendid beach, where carriages and buggies are constantly passing and repassing. On 

 the top of a rocky bluff, the Seal Rock or " Cliff " House, a popular hotel ; below it, in 

 the sea, a couple or so of rocky islets covered with sea-lions, which are protected by a 

 law of the State. To the left, outside some miles, the Farralone Islands, with a capital 

 lighthouse perched on the top of one of them. Entering the Golden Gate, and looking 

 to the right again, the Fort Point Barracks and the outskirts of the city ; to the left the 

 many-coloured headlands and cliffs, on whose summits the wild oats are pale and golden 

 in the bright sunlight. Before one, several islands Alcatraz, bristling with guns, and 

 covered with fortifications ; Goat Island, presumably so called because on it there are no goats. 

 Beyond, fifty miles of green water, and a forest of shipping; and a city, the history of 

 which has no parallel on earth. Hills behind, with streets as steep as those of Malta ; high 

 land, with spires, and towers, and fine edifices innumerable; and great wharves, and slips, 

 and docks in front of all ; with steamships and steam ferry-boats constantly arriving and 

 departing. And now the vessel anchors in the stream, and if not caring to haggle over 

 the half-dollar a large sum in English ears which the boatman demands from each 

 passenger who wishes to go ashore, the traveller finds himself in a strange land, and 

 amid a people of whom he will learn to form the very highest estimate. 



That first dinner, after the eternal bean-coffee, boiled tea, tinned meats, dried vegetables, 

 and "salt horse" of one's ship, in a neat restaurant, where it seems everything on earth 

 can be obtained, will surprise most visitors. An irreproachable potage : broiled salmon (the 

 fish is a drug, almost, on the Pacific coasts) ; turtle steaks, oyster plant, artichokes, and 

 green corn ; a California quail " on toast ; " grand muscatel grapes, green figs, and a 

 cooling slice of melon ; Roquefort cheese, or a very good imitation of it ; black coffee, and 



