Page:A La California.djvu/376

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322
FROM THE ORIENT DIRECT.

clothing, and finds its way into our nostrils. It was real, wholly real, after all! We have indeed stood on the farther shore of the New World, and seen the human tides which have surged round the globe from opposite directions meet and commingle, and have beheld the yellow flag, emblazoned with the red-dragon, emblem of the "Lord of the whole Earth and Brother of the Sun and Moon"—master of the oldest nation which the sun shines upon—and the starry emblem of a sovereign people, "By the Grace of God Free and Independent," floating side by side. It was a sight worth living long and coming-far to look upon—a scene to wonder at, to ponder over and reflect upon—to gaze upon once and remember through all the coming years of life—a scene such as our fathers never beheld nor dreamed of, and of which our children's children only may know the full import and meaning.

The rainy season is over at last, and we are thankful for it. We are weary of the city, its vices, its crimes and its follies, already. All cities are much alike after all, varying only in minor details, but the mountains; God be praised for them. There we shall find change and beauty, sunshine, pure air, freedom, and rest.

As the steamer approaches the Golden Gate, one of the most striking features of the glorious landscape which unfolds itself before the eyes of the traveler, is the bold crest of Mount Diablo standing out clear and sharp against the blue sky, over beyond the Contra Costa hills to the eastward of the Bay of San