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Show 132 PERSONAL ADVENTURES ·. neither canvass nor properly prepared colours ,vere obtainable in the country. I therefore resolved to adopt a lo,ver branch of the art, and endeavour to procure employment as a letterer and sign-painter, at which I had a} .. ready tried my hand on my voyage out, and with no inconsiderable success. With some difficulty I procured a small quantity of lamp· black, yellow ochre, vermillion, and burnt sienna, and pain ted a sign ; the first picture· sign, probably, that the country had ever produced, and certainly the first which the Californians themselves had ever seen, judging from the impression it created. It 'vas suffi .. cient]y fanciful for its purpose, the centre consisting of an easel and a bust of Apollo, with a palette and pencils ; the whole sur· rounded by a wreath of flowers ; whilst the various branches of the art, in which I con· sidered that I excelled, were indicated by an abundance of lettering of different styles, arranged tastefully in appropriate places. Crowds gathered about my sign, which they gazed at, wondered at, and laughed at; some of IN CALIFORNIA. 133 them admired, praised, and returned to inspect and criticise it anew, or to gratify their curiosity by staring at it. I made up my mind, that so much interest could not possibly be manifested, nor abate, without my deriving some solid advantage from it, and I determinedbuilding upon the future - that, 'vhilst I would not demand an exorbitant sum of my customers, that is, exorbitant for California, I would, nevertheless, profit by my monopoly, and make the Californians pay a reasonable price for their new whistle. Alas for human ambition and calculation ! I soon discovered that Monterey was no place for a signpainter; and, growing wearied of waiting for patrons, I resolved to proceed to San Francisco by the earliest opportunity; for I had recently heard the most favourable accounts of its prosperity and gro,ving importance, and now anxiously looked out for the first vessel that should be bound thither. It did not make its appearance, however, for a considerable time, condemning me, by the delay, to a long and wearisome period of I |