Off the Sierra Santa Cruz 



terey, and do not know its many charms. Let it be 

 known, then, that it is August, and that it is always 

 cool. The hot days are apparently unknown here; 

 the air has a peculiar quality altogether delightful 

 and the sea or bay in summer is often as smooth as 

 glass all night, and until midday when the so-called 

 " trade," the inshore, wind begins, increases until it 

 often creates a heavy sea ; but by that time you are in 

 and your salmon are on the wharf. The bay is fifty 

 miles long, really an open roadstead, after the fashion 

 of nearly all the harbors made by nature in Cali- 

 fornia. The Presidio of Monterey is at one end, 

 Santa Cruz and Capitola, near the mouth of the 

 Sequel, at the other; the latter being five miles to the 

 west of Santa Cruz, and being more in the lee, ap- 

 pears to be the favorite point of departure. Here 

 the Sequel has broken down the cliffs which charac- 

 terize the coast. A long wharf reaches out, and in 

 its lee lie numbers of picturesque lateen-rigged boats, 

 launches and smaller craft for the diversion and 

 use of the anglers; and every morning at five or six 

 they are lining up off the float to receive their patrons 

 from all over the country. 



There is a fog bank out at sea, but the high moun- 

 tains of Monterey and Carmel stand up clear and 

 distinct across the bay. The water is as smooth as the 

 proverbial crystal, and one thinks of the painted ship 

 and the time of the Ancient Mariner. If you are a 

 tenderfoot your boatman will unfold the mysteries of 



327 



