heir
ruined homes. In the early days of golden promise a watchman was
stationed on this hill to look out for coming ships entering the Golden
Gate from their long voyage around the Horn and signal the welcome news
to the town below. From this came its name.

Cliffs rise on either side of the Golden Gate, and on one is perched the
Cliff House, long a famous hostelry. This stands so low that in storms
the surf is flung over its lower porticos, though its force is broken
by the Seal Rocks. A chief attraction to this house was to see the seals
play on these rocks, their favorite place of resort. The Cliff House was
at first said to have been swept bodily by the earthquake into the sea,
but it proved to be very little injured, and stands erect in its old
picturesque location.

In the vicinity of Telegraph Hill are Russian and Nob Hills, the latter
getting its peculiar title from the fact that the wealthy "nobs," or
mining magnates, of bonanza days built their homes on its summit level.
Farther to the east are Mount Olympus and Strawberry Hill, and beyond
these the Twin Peaks, which really embrace three hills, the third being
named Bernal Heights. Farther to the south and east is Rincan Hill, the
last in the half moon crescent of hills, within which is a spread of
flat ground extending to the bay. Behind the hills on the Pacific side
stretches a vast sweep of sand, at some places level, but often gathered
into great round dunes. Part of this has been transformed into the
beautiful Golden Gate Park, a splendid expanse of green verdure which
has long been one of San Francisco's chief attractions.

Beneath the whole of San Francisco is a rock formation, but everywhere
on top of this extends the sand, the gift of the winds. This is of such
a character that a hole dug in the street anywhere, even if only to the
depth of a few feet, must be shored up with planking or it will fill as
fast as it is excavated, the sand running as dry as the contents of
an hour glass. When there is an earthquake--or a "temblor," to use the
Spanish name--it is the rock foundation that is disturbed, not the sand,
which, indeed, serves to lessen the effect of the earth tremor.

THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE CITY.

Leaving the region of the hills and descending from their
crescent-shaped expanse, we find a broad extent of low ground, sloping
gently toward the bay. On this low-lying flat was built all of San
Francisco's business houses, all its principal