The Golden Gate entrance to the harbour of San Francisco Watercolors on paper by Thomas Kennet-Were

The Golden Gate, San Francisco Watercolors on paper by Thomas Kennet-Were

“San Francisco had indeed been rightly named the ‘Golden City.’ The very sand on which the city stands is of a golden colour; the hills around are bright with a glory of golden flowers; and through the Golden Gate, which forms the entrance to the harbour from the Pacific, the setting sun pours a stream of golden light. . . .”In San Francisco the atmosphere is most exhilarating. In it a man can do more work than anywhere else, and under it he feels a constant pressure of excitement…. Few Americans are said to die here gradually or of old age. They fall off without warning. This mortality is probably increased by the feverish stimulation of business and speculation, and the high-pressure state of existence produced by money-making. In one of the old cemeteries it is curious to remark at what an early age many people died during the years at which the gold excitement was at its highest.”

Californian Farm near Stockton Watercolors on paper by Thomas Kennet-Were

Cemetery of the Mission Dolores, San Francisco Watercolors on paper by Thomas Kennet-Were

“One of the most interesting spots near San Francisco is the old Spanish Church of the Mission Dolores. To find anything old in the States was always refreshing, and the look of the long, low red-tiled roof, the dark church with its quaint altar piece, and the adobe convent house with its high walls and small windows, was a positive treat.”

San Francisco fr. Oakland ferry boat Watercolors on paper by Thomas Kennet-Were

“The two Sentinels” at the grove of Big Trees, Calaveras, California Watercolors on paper by Thomas Kennet-Were

“From San Francisco we made excursions to Oaklands, a flourishing town across the bay, and to San Jose. Here we hired a pair of horses and drove to New Almaden, to see the quicksilver mines. . . . Besides mines, building lots afford much opportunity for speculation, as the value of sites for houses fluctuates largely. Much money has also been made out of ‘water lots.’ A water lot is a square piece of sea, which speculators purchase, fill up with rubble, and build upon. In this way hundreds of acres of land have been stolen from the bay, and many people recollect the time when the ground on which some of the principal streets and chief mercantile buildings now stand, were under water.”

“From Murphy’s Camp we drove to the grove of mammoth trees, generally called the Calaveras Grove, as it is situated in the county of that name. . . .. . . Most of the larger trees have their names printed on labels, attached to their trunks. The road to the hotel passes between two, which are called the ‘Two Sentinels,’ each over 300 feet high, and the larger 23 feet in diameter.”

Panama

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