possession, as also the other islands, Alcatraz and Angel. Alcatraz,
which Costanso styles, White Island, is smaller than Yerba Buena. In
its greatest elevation it is 135 feet above the Bay, and it embraces
in its surface about thirty-five acres, about the same area as the
Haram Esh-Sherîf, or sacred enclosure of the Temple Hill in Jerusalem,
with the Mosque of Omar and the Mosque el-Aksa. On its top is a
lighthouse, which, on a clear night, sailors can see twelve miles
outside of the Golden Gate. Nature, with her wise forethought, seems
indeed to have formed this island opposite the Golden Gate, far
inside, in the Bay, as a sentinel to watch that pass into the Pacific,
and to guide the returning voyager after his perilous journeyings to
safe moorings in a land-locked haven. Farther to the north is Ysla de
los Angeles, Angel Island, with a varied landscape of hill and plain,
comprising some 800 acres of land.

Here are natural springs of water, and in the early days it was well
wooded with live-oak trees. To the eyes of Drake and other early
navigators and explorers it must have been a vision of beauty, lifting
itself out of the waters. Not many trees are seen here now, however,
but you may behold instead in harvest time fields of grain. It is
especially noted for its stone quarries, and out of these were taken
the materials for the fortifications of Alcatraz and Fort Point--as
well as the California bank building. It was my privilege at a later
day, in company with many of the members of the General Convention
to sail over the Bay and around these islands, which one can never
forget. The steamer "Berkeley" was courteously placed at the service
of the members of the Convention by the officers of the Southern
Pacific Railway; and it was indeed a most enjoyable afternoon under
clear and balmy skies as we rode along the shores of the Peninsula,
and up the eastern side of the Bay, and northward towards San Pablo,