What I saw on the west coast of South and North America, and at the Hawaiian Islands.: By H. Willis Baxley, M.D.

BAY OF SAN FRANCISCO. this city has been three times nearly, and twice entirely destroyed by fire-we have proofs of a creative and reproductive power, which entitles San Francisco to the post of honor for unequalled activity, enterprise, and success. And ill them we read also the signs of her magnificent destiny. Diligent inquiry and obser vation have led me to the conclusion, that the luxury of living may be had here for a family at about a third above New York prices. Those who are content with the necessarie8 of life, and of industrious and provident Habits, cannot fail of acquiring competence and comfort, with thle probability of their experience transcending any moderate expectation. As to men unembar rassed by families, it may be confidently asserted that, nowhere in the Uluited States can such live at as small expense as in San Francisco, provided they are willing to occupy furnished rooms, and take their meals at restaurants unsurpassed for excellence and unequalled for cheapness. For the purpose of visiting some part of the mining and agricultural regions, a fare of one dollar was paid for a passage which formerly cost thirty, to Sacramento, on board a steamer of speed and accommodation equal to a North River boat. Casting loose at four P. M., our route lay northward up the Bay of San Francisco, the uninhabited island of Yerba Buena, destined to play a conspicuous part in the future annals of the city, lying to the right, and serving as a partial wind-screen for the town of Oakland on the east side of the bay, against the blasts, which, during the summer months, come fiercely through the narrow entrance of the harbor. To this island, called Yerba Buena by the Spaniards from its production of a peculiar plant, the later Saxon settlers gave the less euphonious name Goat Island. But this and like efforts to despoil the Spaniards of an incidental honor of discovery and occupancy is not likely to prove successful, for their footprints are too deep to be effaced from the new world; and their renown will continue to be proclaimed through all time, by the sublime language that speaks from its mountains, valleys, and rivers-from every sea, island, and headland. Further on than Yerba Buena, and to the left of the steamer route, is Angele8 Island, of several hundred acres extent, separated from the western shore of the bay by the narrow, but 408

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Title
What I saw on the west coast of South and North America, and at the Hawaiian Islands.: By H. Willis Baxley, M.D.
Author
Baxley, Henry Willis, 1803-1876.
Canvas
Page 408
Publication
New York,: D. Appleton & company,
1865.
Subject terms
South America -- Description and travel
California -- Description and travel
Hawaii -- Description and travel

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"What I saw on the west coast of South and North America, and at the Hawaiian Islands.: By H. Willis Baxley, M.D." In the digital collection Making of America Books. https://name.umdl.umich.edu/abf7940.0001.001. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed June 22, 2025.
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