10. CLIFF HOUSE. (Near San Francisco.) The Cliff House is the " Land's End " of the West. The proud waves of the Pacific here raise an invincible barrier against the westward march of civilization's star. The view from the Cliff looks down over the Seal Rocks and its noisy sea-hogs, the Golden Gate, the lighthouse on the bluff, the frowning walls of Mt. Tamalpais, Point Reyes, the Farallone Islands, and the boundless ocean. Everybody goes to the Cliff now-a-days; it is easily, quickly, and cheaply reached, and amply repays one for the time it takes to make the trip.
11 & 27. RESTING ON THE GRADE. (On
the Shasta Route.) This is a view of the old-time transportation days, when
Wells, Fargo & Co.'s messenger
carried a gun, the passenger carried a black bottle, and the driver carried everything
ahead of him. The country, over which the traveler now skims in ease and elegance
in a day, then took, under the most favorable circumstances, nearly a week with
the very best horseflesh in the country; and in the winter, it took—until
you got there. Yet it had its joys, that long stage ride. The traveler had time
to enjoy the thousand and one charming views along the (3)
way, the fresh, invigorating mountain air gave him an appetite that enabled
him to do justice to the excellent dinners at the old taverns, and it gave
him a
much clearer notion of the vast extent of the country.