On the 23rd of November we again reached our vessel, laden with venison for the whole crew. Captain Lasaref had arrived during our absence with his frigate; having struggled with storms almost the whole way from New Archangel to St. Francisco. With the intention of sending letters home by him, I had waited for his arrival to leave California. Our vessel was therefore now immediately prepared for sailing, our camp on shore broken up, and all the instruments brought on board. During the last night our people passed on land, they killed a polecat which had slunk into the tent. This animal, of the size and form of an ordinary cat, has so abominable a smell, that its vicinity is insupportable. Dogs, when they sometimes attack and bite these creatures, cannot relieve themselves from the stench, but continue to rub their noses so violently against the ground as they run, that they leave a stream of blood on their track. Polecats may be considered in the brute creation what the Kalushes are among men. On the morning of the 25th of November, as soon as the tide ebbed, we towed out of the Bay of St. Francisco with a north-west wind, which here regularly brings fine weather. The sea was still so much agitated by the recent south-west storms, that it rolled large billows into the channel which unites it with the bay. Our vessel being dashed against these breakers by the force of the current from the channel, would no longer obey the helm, and we narrowly escaped being cast against a rock. I would therefore recommend others of my profession only to sail out of this bay when the water in the channel is tranquil, which usually happens after the wind has blown for several days from the north-west. According to repeated observations, we found the latitude of the Presidio of St. Francisco to be 37 deg. 48' 33", and the longitude 122 deg. 22' 30". The declination of the needle was 16 deg. east. The medium of our observations in the bay gave us the time for high water, at the new and full moon, 11 hours and 20 minutes. The greatest difference in the height of the water was seven feet. The rivers which fall into the bay have a great influence on the times of ebb and flow, so that the ebb lasts eight hours, and the flood only four. THE SANDWICH ISLANDS. THE SANDWICH ISLANDS.