gusto while threading the mazes of the cotillion or swinging in the
waltz.

I had the pleasure of being introduced, at the residence of Mr.
Leidesdorff, to two young ladies, sisters and belles in Alta
California. They are members of an old and numerous family on the
Contra Costa. Their names are singular indeed, for, if I heard them
correctly, one of them was called Donna Maria Jesus, and the other
Donna Maria Conception. They were interesting and graceful young
ladies, with regular features, symmetrical figures, and their dark eyes
flashed with all the intelligence and passion characteristic of Spanish
women.

Among the gentlemen with whom I met soon after my arrival at San
Francisco, and whoso acquaintance I afterwards cultivated, were Mr. E.
Grimes and Mr. N. Spear, both natives of Massachusetts, but residents
of this coast and of the Pacific Islands, for many years. They may be
called the patriarchs of American pioneers on the Pacific. After
forming an acquaintance with Mr. G., if any one were to say to me that

"Old Grimes is dead, that good old man,"

I should not hesitate to contradict him with emphasis; for he is still
living, and possesses all the charities and virtues which can adorn
human nature, with some of the eccentricities of his name-sake in the
song. By leading a life of peril and adventure on the Pacific Ocean for
fifty years he has accumulated a large fortune, and is a man now
proverbial for his integrity, candour, and charities. Both of these
gentlemen have been largely engaged in the local commerce of the
Pacific. Mr. S., some twenty-five or thirty years ago, colonized one of