n families, which
arrived in the ship Brooklyn from New York, are quartered. As in the
other missions I have passed through, the Indian quarters are crumbling
into shapeless heaps of mud.

Our aged host, notwithstanding he is a pious Catholic, and considers us
as heretics and heathens, gave us his benediction in a very impressive
manner when we were about to start. Mounting our horses at sunrise, we
travelled three miles over low ridges of sand-hills, with sufficient
soil, however, to produce a thick growth of scrubby evergreen oak, and
brambles of hawthorn, wild currant and gooseberry bushes, rose bushes,
briers, etc. We reached the residence of Wm. A. Leidesdorff, Esq., late
American vice-consul at San Francisco, when the sun was about an hour
high. The morning was calm and beautiful. Not a ripple disturbed the
placid and glassy surface of the magnificent bay and harbour, upon
which rested at anchor thirty large vessels, consisting of whalemen,
merchantmen, and the U.S. sloop-of-war Portsmouth, Captain Montgomery.
Besides these, there were numerous small craft, giving to the harbour a
commercial air, of which some of the large cities on the Atlantic coast
would feel vain. The bay, from the town of San Francisco due east, is
about twelve miles in breadth. An elevated range of hills bounds the
view on the opposite side. These slope gradually down, and between them
and the shore there is a broad and fertile plain, which is called the
_Contra Costa_. There are several small islands in the bay, but they do
not present a fertile appearance to the eye.

We were received with every mark of respectful attention and cordial
hospitality by Mr. Leidesdorff. Mr. L. is a native of Denmark; was for
some years a resident of the United States; but subsequently the
captain of a merchant vessel, and has been established at this place as
a merchant some five or six years. The house in which he resides, now
under the process of completion, is the largest private building in the
town. Being shown to a well-furnished room, we changed our
travel-soiled clothing for a more civilized costume, by which time
breakfast was announced, and we were ushered into a large dining-hall.
In the centre stood a table, upon which was spread a substantial
breakfast of stewed and fried beef, fried onions, and potatoes, bread,
butter, and coffee. Our appetites were very sharp, and we did full
justice to the merits of the fare before us. The servants waiting up