A Thousand-Mile Walk 
San Francisco by way of the Isthmus was only 
forty dollars. 
In the mean time I wandered about the city 
without knowing a single person in it. My walks 
extended but little beyond sight of my little 
schooner home. I saw the name Central Park 
on some of the street-cars and thought I would 
like to visit it, but, fearing that I might not be 
able to find my way back, I dared not make the 
adventure. I felt completely lost in the vast 
throngs of people, the noise of the streets, and 
the immense size of the buildings. Often I 
thought I would like to explore the city if, like 
a lot of wild hills and valleys, it was clear of 
inhabitants. 
The day before the sailing of the Panama 
ship I bought a pocket map of California and 
allowed myself to be persuaded to buy a dozen 
large maps, mounted on rollers, with a map of 
the world on one side and the United States on 
the other. In vain I said I had no use for them. 
“But surely you want to make money in Cali- 
fornia, don’t you? Everything out there is very 
[ 186 ] 
