Page:The Tourist's California by Wood, Ruth Kedzie.djvu/157

 SAN FRANCISCO 127 sure-footed make their way to an escarpment from which there is a combination of views that silences words. It is said that the beach from the Cliff House to the Golden Gate yields 125 varieties of sea-shells. The Presidio of the present what an amazing contrast it offers to the first post established on this strategic site in 1776 by the band of purpose- ful adventurers who bespoke it for Spain! They could no more have conceived these well-mar- shalled troops of another flag, these batteries lurk- ing behind grassy parapets, these comely avenues and lawns, than they could have imagined a flock of man-birds in the air above them, or the funnels of a steam-driven ship entering the near-by har- bour. The garrison park of 1500 acres still guards the adobe, oldest clay house in San Francisco, which was erected by the first commandante and is used now by the Officers' Club. There is an agreeable path near the bay to the fortifications of Fort Point at the southern pillar of the Gate. Permission to view the guns is gained at the Administration Offices. The return may be made by way of the golf links and so back to the barracks and parade grounds. The breeze is brisk and tangy, the prospect every- where pleasing, the blare of military bugles in- spires a patriotic thrill, and, unless the Govern-