It is a guide too, to the sailor coming
over the seas from distant lands. As he strains his eyes to catch a
glimpse of the coast the Cross stands out in bold relief against the
eastern sky, and it tells him that he will find a hospitable welcome
and safe harbourage within the Golden Gate. So it is dear to him after
his voyage over stormy seas as was of old
"Sunium's marbled steep"
to the Greek sailor nearing home.
Near Stone Lake we met the head commissioner of the Park who saluted
us with all the easy grace of the Californian; and on the way we had
the opportunity of receiving a Scotch gentleman and his wife into our
carriage; and, later, a clergyman who had been wandering about in the
midst of sylvan scenes, rode with us to the entrance of the Park,
where we bade our new found friends good-bye, each to go his own way,
at eventide.
The third day after our arrival in San Francisco I had a longing
to gaze on the Pacific ocean which I had never seen. There were
no laurels for us to win, such as Balboa justly deserved when he
discovered the Pacific and first beheld its wide waters in the year
1513; but it was a natural desire to look on its broad expanse and to
stand on its shores, along which bold navigators had sailed since the
days of Cabrillo and Drake.
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