"Numberless vessels, mostly from the United States, filled the bay, in front of San Francisco, many of them being deserted by their crews, and unable to procure others to take their places. On landing, I had to clamber up a steep hill, on the top of which, and opposite to where I stood, was a large wooden house, two stories high, and scarcely half finished. In the rear of this, rose another and a steeper hill, whose slopes were covered with a multiplicity of tents. To my right, ran a sort of steep, or precipice, defended by sundry pieces of cannon, which commanded the entrance to the harbor. I next came to the 'Point,' and, crossing it, found myself within the town. "The first objects that attracted my notice were several canvas houses, measuring from ten to forty feet square, some being grog-shops, others eating establishments, and the larger set apart as warehouses, or places of storage. The proprietors of the latter were making enormous sums by the accommodation their tents afforded to the hundreds of travellers who were arriving every day from different parts, and who, being extremely embarrassed as to what they should do with their luggage, were heartily glad to find any safe place to store it in, and content to pay for the convenience. "The spectacle which the beach presented from a convenient opening, whence I could comprise the whole at a glance, was singularly interesting and curious. A crowd of individuals, in motley garb, and of every variety of race, might be seen pressing eagerly upward towards the town, jostling and pushing one another, in their anxiety to be first, yet looking eagerly about them, as if to familiarize themselves at once with the country of their adoption. Here were dandies from the United States and from France, picking their steps mincingly, as they strove to keep pace with the sturdy fellows who carried their luggage; their beaver hats, fashionable frock-coats, irreproachable and well-strapped pantaloons, exciting the derisive remarks of the spectators, the majority of them 'old Californians,' whose rough labor at the 'diggins' had taught them to estimate such _niaiseries_ at their proper value. By their side stalked the stately and dignified Spaniard, covered with his broad-brimmed, low-crowned _sombrero_, and gracefully enveloped in his ample _serapa_, set off by a bright scarlet sash. He turns neither to the right nor to the left, nor heeds the crowd about him, but keeps on the even tenor of his way--though even he has occasionally to jump for it--presenting, in his demeanor and costume, a striking contrast to the more bustling activity of the Yankees, who are elbowing every one, in their anxiety to go a-head. A lot of shopboys, too--mere lads, as spruce and neatly attired as though they had just stepped out of some fashionable emporium, mingle with the rest, and, as they enter the town, strike up the popular parody--