he
accommodation of all the navies of the world.

The town of San Francisco is situated on the south side of the
entrance, fronting on the bay, and about six miles from the ocean. The
flow and ebb of the tide are sufficient to bring a vessel to the
anchorage in front of the town and carry it outside, without the aid of
wind, or even against an unfavourable wind. A more approachable
harbour, or one of greater security, is unknown to navigators. The
permanent population of the town is at this time between one and two
hundred,[1] and is composed almost exclusively of foreigners. There are
but two or three native Californian families in the place. The
transient population, and at present it is quite numerous, consists of
the garrison of marines stationed here, and the officers and crews
attached to the merchant and whale ships lying in the harbour. The
houses, with a few exceptions, are small adobes and frames, constructed
without regard to architectural taste, convenience, or comfort. Very
few of them have either chimneys or fire-places. The inhabitants
contrive to live the year round without fires, except for cooking. The
position of San Francisco for commerce is, without doubt, superior to
any other port on the Pacific coast of North America. The country
contiguous and contributory to it cannot be surpassed in fertility,
healthfulness of climate, and beauty of scenery. It is capable of
producing whatever is necessary to the sustenance of man, and many of
the luxuries of tropical climates, not taking into the account the
mineral wealth of the surrounding hills and mountains, which there is
reason to believe is very great. This place is, doubtless, destined to
become one of the largest and most opulent commercial cities in the
world, and under American authority it will rise with astonishing
rapidity. The principal merchants now established here are Messrs.
Leidesdorff, Grimes and Davis, and Frank Ward, a young gentleman
recently from New York. These houses carry on an extensive and
profitable commerce with the interior, the Sandwich Islands, Oregon,
and the southern coast of the Pacific. The produce of Oregon for
exportation is flour, lumber, salmon, and cheese; of the Sandwich
Islands, sugar, coffee, and preserved tropical fruits.

California, until recently, has had no commerce, in the broad
signification of the term. A few commercial houses of Boston and New
York have monopolized all the trade on this coast for a num