steam power, and from these works endless cables revolve throughout the city, under the roads, in various directions.  In the bed of the tramway is a groove, under which is the cable, revolving at a great speed.  The driver of the car lets down his grip, which tightly holds the cable, and, of course, the car starts at full speed, and is carried along by the cable.  When the driver wants to stop, he lets go his grip on the cable and applies his brake.  Some of the hills in San Francisco are very steep, and the first sensation in riding on the outside front seat, while going full speed down a sharp declivity, is certainly novel, with no apparent motive power, and no apparent means of stopping.  The speed, of course, is always the same, whether up or down hill, or on level ground.  Telegraph Hill is 394 feet high, Clay Street Hill 376 feet, and Russian Hill 360 feet.  A San Francisco Sunday is painful to one accustomed to our English ways; travelling in every form, and buying and selling are very prevalent.  The Y.M.C.A. have a large building there, and get large meetings.  I attended one gathering, which I addressed shortly.

San Francisco is described as having “the mildest and most equable climate known to any large city in the world.”  January is the coldest month, and the mean temperature then is stated to be 50 deg..  September is the hottest month, and the mean temperature then is stated to be 58 deg..  Thus only 8 deg. difference between the coldest and warmest months, and the average for the whole year is 54 deg..

San Francisco has a population of about 300,000 (including some 40,000 Chinese), is the principal city of the State of California, and the principal commercial centre on the Pacific coast.  I must not, however, dwell longer on this part of my journey.  On Monday, December 8th, I left San Francisco with one of my clients, Mr. C.H.  Huffman, for Merced, by the 4 p.m train.  The sun was shining gloriously, producing a charming effect upon the placid waters of the Bay and its beautiful surrounding hills.

SAN FRANCISCO TO NEW ORLEANS.

The train reached Merced at 10.23 on Monday night, December 8th, 1890, where I was met, and in a spacious family buggy, drawn by a pair of good horses, I was very soon at the residence of my client, Mr. C.H.  Huffman.  The continuous day and night travelling by rail, and the taking of voluminous notes all along, had caused a constant excitement which told upon the nerves, and for two days I felt as though I needed absolute rest, but, remembering that I had already been long absent from my office, I commenced my work at Merced the next morning.  The town of Merced is the capital of the county of that name; it is not many years old, but it has a striking difference to many new small towns I have seen in the Colonies, in that it has several very good buildings and residences.  It has seven churches and chapels of various denominations,