MRS. WILTON.  “Mexico has been travelled over already; so we will pass on to the Gulf of California.”

GEORGE.  “But is there not a place called New Mexico?”

DORA.  “Yes, but not near the coast:  however, I will tell you all I know about it.  It is mostly inhabited by Christian Indians, of whom there are no fewer than thirty villages.  They are of various tribes, but all trained to industrial habits, and are in every respect a worthy set of people.  Their clothing is the skin of wild goats; their women wear mantles of cotton or wool.  Their mode of travelling is on horseback, and the only access to their huts, which are square, with open galleries on the top, is by a ladder, which is removed during the night.”

CHARLES.  “Robinson Crusoe fashion, I presume?”

DORA.  “Exactly.  ’Now we are in front of the entrance to San Francisco Bay.  The mountains on the northern side are 3000 feet in height, and come boldly down to the sea As the view opens through the splendid strait, three or four miles in width, the island rock of Alcatraz appears, gleaming white in the distance.  At last we are through the Golden Gate—­fit name for such a magnificent portal to the commerce of the Pacific.  The Bay is crowded with the shipping of the world, and the flags of all nations are fluttering in the breeze.’[15] Before us lies the grand emporium of the Gold Region—­a city which has well nigh realized the extravagance of the Arabian Nights Entertainments.  As if by the touch of a magic wand, what was five years ago a little Indian village is now a large and flourishing city, which is increasing at a prodigious rate.  From every nation and people and clime, emigrants have been pressing to it in pursuit of the precious metal.  The golden sands of California, with their brilliant glitter, have attracted thousands upon thousands from every land—­and there is now arising on the far distant shores of the Pacific a great Empire destined to exert a mighty influence in the affairs of the world.  The glowing prospect which the success of the first adventurers had created, soon drew to her shores the energy and enterprise of the nations of both Europe and America.  ’Around the curving shore of the Bay and upon the sides of three hills, which rise steeply from the water, the middle one receding so as to form a bold amphitheatre, the town is planted and seems scarcely yet to have taken root, for tents, canvass, plank, mud and adobe houses are mingled together with the least apparent attempt at order and durability.’  However, the appearance of the city is fast improving—­for churches and schools and public buildings are springing up on every side, and substantial edifices are fast taking the place of the more temporary erections.  The sudden rush or so many people to one point, and many of them poorly provided, combined with the abundance of the gold, caused provision, rents, and labor to rise to enormous prices.  A tent for instance,