"To California 



was more delicious and grateful than ever was 

 a spring-scented breeze. 



We now had plenty of company; fleets of 

 vessels were on the wing from all countries. 

 Our taut little racer outwinded without ex- 

 ception all who, like her, were going to the port. 

 Toward evening we were grinding and wedg- 

 ing our way through the ice-field of the river 

 delta, which we passed with difficulty. Arrived 

 in port at nine o'clock. The ship was deposited, 

 like a cart at market, in a proper slip, and next 

 morning we and our load of oranges, one 

 third rotten, were landed. Thus all the pur- 

 poses of our voyage were accomplished. 



On our arrival the captain, knowing some- 

 thing of the lightness of my purse, told me 

 that I could continue to occupy my bed on 

 the ship until I sailed for California, getting 

 my meals at a near-by restaurant. "This is 

 the way we are all doing," he said. Consult- 

 ing the newspapers, I found that the first ship, 

 the Nebraska, sailed for Aspinwall in about 

 ten days, and that the steerage passage to 

 [ i8s 1 



