number of whales and other cetaceans, which abound in those seas. On the 15th we perceived Point Concepcion, 250 miles distant from San Francisco; we saluted from afar Santa Barbara, San Luis and Monterey, and on the 16th we came to San Francisco. I was glad to find myself in a house of the Society and in the company of several of my brethren in Jesus Christ, who overwhelmed me with kindness and care, with the most cordial charity. One especially ap-. preciates the Quam bonum et quam jucundum habitare fratres in unu-m, after having been shut up in a ship among 1,300 individuals of all nations, on earth, all with their morals infected with the yellow (or golden) fever, and who think, speak and dream of nothing but of mines of gold and the earthly happiness which their wealth is to procure them hereafter - and often this " hereafter " never arrives.
An examination of the map will show you how favored California is by nature. It is surprising how this country could be so long neglected, and as it were forgotten, despite its immense advantages. To-day it has a start, and commerce and all human industries are centering there and developing with a rapidity that bewilders the boldest and most adventurous spirits. The soil is generally fertile and adapted to all the exigencies of life; the products exceed the demand already, and go to enrich distant markets. I would never stop if I tried to tell you in detail of the soft climate of this lovely land, the regularity of its seasons, its fine mountains, its rich valleys, its immense prairies, where horses and a multitude of other domestic animals multiply to infinity, its incomparable mines, etc., etc. Consider that for a century to come the bosom of California will remain open to thousands of miners, greedy for gold and silver.
A dozen years ago San Francisco was nothing but a very little seaport, with only a handful of inhabitants. To-day it is the marvel, and the port par excellence, of the whole Pacific Ocean. A population of at least 6o,ooo souls has sprung up, gathered from all the corners of the earth. There are 4,000 Chinese, preserving faithfully the manners and customs of 47