Page:California Inter Pocula.djvu/234



222 .         THE  VOYAGE  TO  CALIFORNIA.

the sometime  famous  capital  of  California,  which point we  reached  at  nine  o'clock  that  night. A shelving point,  Pinos  by  name,  green  with  waving pines and  terminating  in  black  rocks,  marks  the  ap- proach to Monterey  bight,  an  indentation  of  the coast, scarcely  to  be  called  a  harbor,  yet  generally safe for  shipping. Rising behind  a  town  of  five  hun- dred inhabitants, of  spacious  well-built  tiled  adobes, intermixed with  dwellings  of  wood,  with  government buildinos and  a  fort  on  an  eminence  near  the  water, is an  amphitheatre  of  wooded  hills  glowing  like  an illuminated  panorama  in  the  warm  hazy  air — the whole forming  as  lovely  and  picturesque  a  scene  as the  sun  shines  on.

Thioughout the  next  day  all  hands  were  busy chopping and  taking  in  wood. Setting sail  at  half past nine  we  prepared  with  some  nervous  guitie  de cceur  for  the  last  night,  that  most  joyous  of  all  nights on shipboard. By daylight  next  morning,  which  was the 1st  of  April,  1852,  the  bold  rugged  cliffs  of  points Lobos and  Bonito  are  in  full  view,  the  lonely  Faral- lones stand  sentinel  on  our  left,  while  northward in the  direction  of  Point  Peyes  stretch  the  high rocky galleries  of  the  coast  which  bound  the  sea  to its  very  edge.

Slow ? The sluggish  boat  seems  scarcely  to  move  I The  lazy  wheels  slap  the  water  in  aggravating  dor- mancy, and between  each  step  of  the  walking-beam you may  count  a  month. By far  the  longest  hour upon the  route  is  that  when,  with  adjusted  rigging and slushed  masts  and  feed  waiter  and  luggage  ready, we watch  with  feverish  impatience  the  slowly  lessen- ing distance between  us  and  the  headlands. It was in order,  the  day  before  this  last,  for  the  captain's favorites  to  prepare  a  fulsome  testimonial  for  gentle- manly conduct and  able  seamanship,  to  be  published in the  daily  journals  on  landing  ;  while  those  who fancied themselves  to  have  been  ill  used  might  change their muttering  curses   into  bold  charges,  and  talk