CHAPTER XL
SAK FRANCISCO. Superanda omnis fortuna ferendo est.
— Virgil.
To the Greeks, Delphi was the centre of the earth ; to Jews and Christians, Jerusalem; to Californians, San Francisco.
Pastoral San Francisco was but a hamlet. Though a seaport, it had little to do with the sea, and was more like a cluster of houses in the country than a commercial town. The presidio maintained the dig- nity of government and war, and the mission the dig- nity of religion, so that for the traffickers at the cove little dignity remained or was required. Even when the galvanic shock of gold-discovery struck the place, it did not immediately assume large proportions, but rather stood stupified for a moment before setting out on its broad pathway of progress.
Hence it was that during the winter of 1848-9 the place did not grow much, nor was it very large by the end of 1849. The principal buildings were clus- tered around the plaza, or Portsmouth square ; brick structures were few, and there was not one really substantial building in the place. The greater part of the town consisted of tents and small shanties made out of packing-boxes, with some not very good houses of more pretentious construction. The few travelled streets were little better than mire during the rains, while the sidewalks were made of barrel staves and narrow pieces of board.
