New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1869-07-28

ROHld console him ;fe yet DeIOIo
MANY hundred leng seconds he still has TO i've J.
In the state yet mighty career speads before MN;
Let HIM seek in the great world OF action TO strVeI
In two or three days the eggs turn to blush color,
and then they are ripe for Matching when the proper
season comes. Rain Kand lightning are the great
enemies of silk-worms. Rain, soaking the mulberry
leaf makes it poisonous for them and single thunder
shower may paralyze and kill every worm in a large
cocoonery in ten minutes. But in California Sum-
mer is rainless and thunder and lightning are un-
known except among the mountains.
This new industry is 80 nice and delicate that 1t
may take several years to master its Details but 1T
bids fair to expand into vast proportions Besides
supplying the European market with eggs l see no
reason why California should not ultimately manu-
facture silk for the entire country. The duty on I'M
ported silks is 90 per cent aifOrding room fOr
fascinating profit Here the machinery can easily DO
made the worm and the mulberry thrive, ana skllled
Oriental labor is obtainabe in limitless quantities
Even if we import the raw silk upon which there is
no duty) cheap labor and nearneSs TO emma ana
Japan will give the factories of California great
advantages over those of New York. New-JcrSey,
and Connecticut
ABREAKFAsT WITH THE sEA-LIONs
OF all the lions of San Francisco the most unique
are the sea-lions. This morning party OF friends
and myself rede out to breakfast with them; and II
they did not join in the banquet they at least coun
tenanced it.
From MOntgOmery-st we drove up Bush, an ex-
ceedingly sharp hill, passing residences which are
chiefly of wood, and have large, pleasant gardens
After the cobblestones of the old business thorough
fares and the NicOlsOn pavement of the resident
streets were left behind, the blowing sands grew
trying to the eyes, In the beginning these bare sand
hills must have been very dreaTy but the grass and
shrubbery of the yards is covering their nakedness
moro and more, and in time San Francisco Will be
the most picturesque of all our largo cities The view
of the water and the shipping, from hundreds OF
dwellings is superb Past raw outskirts, past Lone
Mountain Cemetery, where sleep Broderick and
Baker and Starr King, we reached splendid macad-
amized turnpike. and our horses flew like the WIND
The pace into which the noble animal Is persuaded
in this cool bracing climate, would soonAkil him IN
an Eastern city, and would set Henry Bergh 10
wringing his hands and tearing his HAIR
Rising to the crest of the last hill we looked out
upon the great Pacific its green expanse ecked with
snowy foam. wonder how often one must sec it to
destroy the associations of infinite faroness which
always give it charm for stranger eyes
At the waters edge we stop at the Cliff House-a
long low pleasant frame building, with a wing of
horse-sheds stretching affair." and deep hospitable
porches in front and rear. The Cliff is favOTite
resort. Omnibu5es constantly from the city
eight mles-and private parties 90 out daily, some
times choosing moonlight nights, but generally
breakfasting here, that they may return by noon,
before the winds grow furious The gentlemen of
our party all wear OvercOats but arrive so chilled
that the coal fires prove strong magnet for the first
few minutes. Then from the rear porch we gaze
out eagerly upon the Pacific To the north is the
entrance to San Francisco Bay with its romantic
name and its yet more romantic history, Further.
and Just beyond the reach of vision, lies brakes
Bay where three hundred years ago. the great nayi-
gator and captain lay for months and mover found
the Golden Gate. To the northwest rise the Faral
lones which supply San Francisco with the eggs Of
the murre or foolish guillemot, nutritive but un-
paatable substitute for hens eggs Straight before
u.s. to the west, stretches the great Ocean with its
new currents of commerce, its paths of empire.
How the thoughts crowd upon one as his strain
ing eyes try to pierce the horizonl The Sandwich
-China-India! The beginning Of a
new era which links US to "dusky nations living in
strange countries, worshipng strange gods, and
writing strange characters from left TO right"
But we leave speculations about the distant and
the infinite to study the wonder which lies at.our
feet few yards from the porch are the famous
Seal Rocks two or three huge granite piles streaked
with white from pelican deposits and washed and
worn by the waves into picturesque shapes, with
curious arch piercing the top of one. Here during
the Summer months, these sea-lons seals conge-
gate as they do nowhere else in the world. On other
coasts, especially the North Pacific, some Of them
climb lodges, but these isolated rocks washed on
every side by the sea, their pet resort whole
State law forbds tho killing of them 80 their
numbers do not diminish and they are likely to re-
main permanently the great curiosity of the city.
Some very young ones are not more than two feet
long; the largest twenty feet and weigh 1900
pounds They bark like dogs and on very dark
nights it is said, their voices enable pilots of incom
ing ships to find the entrance to the harbOr.
Fully hundred lie upon the rocks. Through an
opera glass we can study them with the greatest
mnuteness. Some are sleeping in the sun. some
crawling slowly up from the water, some nursing
their young, and some fighting One leviathan Is
scratching his head with his huge hipper while his
mOOny face contracts into a puffy oleaginOus scowL
When still fresh from the water the lions are black.
but their coats dry to dirty brown. like that of an
ordinary buffalo robe. a few. however, are almost
white One theory is that some are white at paTtie-
ular seasons; another that all grow white with age
They said to have the sowest circulation of any
warm-blOOded animals and to stay under water
from half to three-quarteTs Of an hour at a time
Their eyes matchless, large, liquid and tender
AS they sit with heads erect, their necks and shout
ders do have a leonine look. While crawling up
the rocks they suggest prmeval monsters or enor-
nous boOd-suckeTs Their heads are wolf shaped, |
hence suppose the Spanish name for these rocks
Lobos Point. STILL white one swimming in the
water looks quite enough like human being TO have
originated the fable of the mermaid among old
mariners. The tail, too ends in O fin in orthodox
mermaid fashion, and the cry Of young ono is |
strangely like the wall of nfsnt-thOugh it does
not proceed from the infant of whale. AS general
rule sea Hons don't walk about seeking whom they |
may devouT, but of our group tells that down
the coast lady one lying upon the sand, and !
supposng it to be dead touched II with her paraso
1t proved to be only asleep; the stroke awoke it, she
turned to fly, and ii went numbering after her |
While she ran, shriekng with terror, gentleman of
her party came up and dispatched the animal with