most respected, eminent and influential character in
the Californias. It was my intention, after paying
a visit of ceremony to his excellency, Governor Ar-
rillaga, to come to San Francisco for the sole pur-
pose of meeting a man whose record has inspired
me with the deepest interest. And we have all
heard such wonderful tales of your California, of
its beauty, its fertility, of the beneficent lives of
your missionaries--so different from ours--and of
the hospitality and elegance of the Spaniards, that
it has been the objective point of my travels, and I
have found it difficult to curb my impatience while
attending to imperative duties elsewhere."

"Ay! senor!" exclaimed the young Californian.
"What you say fills me with a pride I cannot ex-
press, and I can only regret that the reports of our
poor habitations should be so sadly exaggerated.
Such as our possessions are, however, they are yours
while you deign to remain in our midst. This is
my father's house. I beg that you will regard it as
your own. Burn it if you will!" he cried with
more enthusiasm than commonly enlivened the
phrases of hospitality. "He will be proud to know
that a lifetime of severe attention to duty and of
devotion to his King have won him fame abroad
as well as at home. He has risen to his present
position from the ranks, but he is of pure Spanish
blood, not a drop of Indian; and my mother was a
Moraga, of the best blood of Spain," he added art-