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Show 148 PERSONAl.., ADVENTURES more properly call it a gate, we found the strait to extend quite five miles from the sea to the Bay itself, which then opens right and left, extending in each direction about thirty· six miles, its total length being more than 70 miles, with a coast-line of about 275. The land on each side of the strait is irregular and picturesque, resembling, on account of its continuity, an immense bank, which forms an admirable natural protection against the fierce winds that frequently s'veep the coast with unmitigated fury. Proceeding up the strait, we found the real or second entrance to the Bay barred by an enormous rock, which offers a capital site for a fort. To the left of it, in an embrasure of the land, lay the flag-ship Ohio, which, seen from this distance, appeared like a minia· ture man-of-war ' several others of lesser . dimensions, but of the same character, being dotted about here and there, at convenient anchorages. I learned that these vessels had taken up their position at this spot-although inconveniently distant from the town-with a IN CALIFORNIA. 149 view to render desertion on the part of the men more difficult; for the mines, it seen1s, possessed such powerful attractions, that many of the boats' cre,vs had abandoned their vessels to go gold-hunting; and it had been found extremely. difficult to restrain even the officers ' a considerable number of 'vhom had yielded to the temptation. Having passed this huge rock, which rises sheer out of the water to a considerable height, and may be some 60 or 100 feet in breadth, the Bay of San Francisco burst upon us in all its beauty; and, P,Xcited as my imagination had been by the numerous descriptions I had heard of it, I was unprepared for the magnificent scene which presented itself to my view, as our crazy vessel glided sluggishly over its placid waters. Its first aspect is that of a long lake, lying embosomed between parallel ranges of mountains, in the midst of a country of Alpine character; but the eye, soon accustoming itself to dissect the beautiful landscape, perceives that the monotony of its glassy surface |