The Russian
Brig, Following The Old Style, Had Celebrated Their Christmas
Eleven Days Before; When They Had A Grand Blow-Out And (As Our
Men Said) Drank, In The Forecastle, A Barrel Of Gin, Ate Up A
Bag Of Tallow, And Made A Soup Of The Skin.
Sunday, December 27th.
We had now finished all our business at
this port, and it being Sunday, we unmoored ship and got under
weigh, firing a salute to the Russian brig, and another to the
Presidio, which were both answered. The commandant of the Presidio,
Don Gaudaloupe Villego, a young man, and the most popular, among the
Americans and English, of any man in California, was on board when
we got under weigh. He spoke English very well, and was suspected
of being favorably inclined to foreigners.
We sailed down this magnificent bay with a light wind, the tide,
which was running out, carrying us at the rate of four or five
knots. It was a fine day; the first of entire sunshine we had
had for more than a month. We passed directly under the high
cliff on which the Presidio is built, and stood into the middle
of the bay, from whence we could see small bays, making up into
the interior, on every side; large and beautifully-wooded islands;
and the mouths of several small rivers. If California ever becomes
a prosperous country, this bay will be the centre of its prosperity.
The abundance of wood and water, the extreme fertility of its shores,
the excellence of its climate, which is as near to being perfect as
any in the world, and its facilities for navigation, affording the
best anchoring-grounds in the whole western coast of America,
all fit it for a place of great importance; and, indeed, it has
attracted much attention, for the settlement of "Yerba Buena,"
where we lay at anchor, made chiefly by Americans and English,
and which bids fair to become the most important trading place on
the coast, at this time began to supply traders, Russian ships,
and whalers, with their stores of wheat and frijoles.
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