The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1870-12-03
Written for the P. c. Adye-tiserl
"Reminiscences of San Franc1sco-No. <.

idea Of our first impressions, and adEerted oflehy 10
The kind Of business carried on IN the by IN those
e,rlv DAVIS. We Will say something OF the mode
And. first, 1t may not be generally known that quite
a considerable trade existed between the Hawaiian
Islands and California. Two vessels arrived in San
F.aucis,o from Honolulu after our advent The
Don Oairote, commanded by the late much respected
Commodore John Patty, AMI the brig BOiirar, Cor
ham II. Nye, master, who was in Honolulu a year
ago. There we're vessels also trading from CALI 10 to
the coast. The name of one, a Peruvian bark, used
10 lie a puzzle for the non-castilian scholar to pro-
nounce. she was namei the JoUsn GuipuscoIaa.
which for convenience was called by the initerate
y4nks the g jolly gripping schooner albeit she was
q BARK However much they corrupted the name,
there was no difficulty in mounting the god dinners
and lunches that used to be dispensed on board, for
she was a flyorite. The Captain was an old Spaniar1,
believed in good living, and what was more, had
some Trs of that king Of fluids, ' Italia from tue
land Of the chi dren Of the sun, which for a punch OF
a raw foSzy night on that coast, was considered truly
rovaI. and always left in the imLiber's mind On earn
est desire 10 renew assurances with the "old Ill
dalgo.'' For the information Of our readers we Will
say that the name Of this vessel, was derived from
- Guipuzcoa.' a province in Spain, and means a
Young lass Of that country Generally the vessels
trading 20 Peru preferred tallow to hides, whereas
tbs ;s1s,J and Boston vessels wanted hides, and they
aIuavs exchanged. 1t the period of which We speak,
we had not seen these 50 Hesperides,' and regarded
the natives from here with greater interest, and tried
10 talk with them, and learn something about g Las
I4ias. - as the Californians would say. We found,
somewhat to our surprise, that Las Islas was a big
Place, only exceeded in importance in the eyes Of
Californians by the city Of Mexico, and he who had
ever visited the former was about as big a Travelled
- Il IL - H.
Montezumas.
The mode of trading was peculiar TO California.
Every vessel had a trading room, fitted up between
decks, where samples Of goods were displayed on
shelves, much the SINE as in a store on shore. The
priests bought largely when they came down from
their missions to the bay. and this they would do
more frequently at San Francisco than any other
port on the coast, because they could come in the
ships launch-at other places it Eecessitated a
horseback journey of many leagues from the interior.
These prelates, always being well surrounded with
obesity, didn't like the shaking up to their sacred
persons. The rancheros, with their wives and
daughters, came on board in the same way-and if
you SPOKE the vernlcular at all, trading with the
rOsy-cheeked, bright-eyed seuoritas was by no means
an unpleasant occupation. Some coin passed, but
not much, rs everything was to be paid up at the
ensuing "MItanzls,' killing season. L have often
thought how mlny poor starving wretches. at the
great centres of the civilized world, could have had
enough, and TO spare, of the beef left on the pliins
for the coyotes and other wild animals to feast on.
The cattle were killel mainly for the hides and tallOW
only a few choice pieces being kept for jerked beef;
which, in the way q California dame would cook it,
accompanied by the dish Of frijOles, spiced with
ehaipepper and the tortila corn cake, was a caution
to sinners, or rather to hungry folk, 10 avoid after
such a neil an attack Of a~pOplexy. Our mouth
waters as We write.
There was another good usage of those times, that
all customers were expected to remain on board and
dine The ladies' and priests were especially fond
Of plum pudding, and the efforts of the ships stew
ard were required to set forth more than one of those
sweet mountains, accompanied with plenty Of good
rich wine sauce. The ship could well afford it, for
these priests and rich rancheros didn't buy two or
three reals worth, and higgle at that, but in the
course Of a forenoon an order for six, eight, ten or
twelve thousand dollars was made up, at prices that
deGed competition at being any higher. But before
leaving the plum pudding and wine sauce arrange
ment, we recollect an amusing incident that hap
pened one day on boarl at dinner, when padre
Quj -, from the mission Of SIN 4 Iflel was at table.
y better old chap in gray robe never breathed
Pudding had been served by the Captain to the sew
eral guests, and the bowl of sauce placed in front Of
the padre He began eating it with his spoon, as if
it were soup, remarking that the " calde (soup)
was "buenissimo,' very excellent, and if it needed
any improvement it was only in the matter of a
little more 4" Here's" Those who understood him,
repressed a smile, and of course got no sauce to their
pulling. The steward observing the sacerdotal
fondness for wine sluce, quickly produced another
bowl, which didn't for a moment interrupt the rever-
end fathers repast.
As intimated above, the goods sold at high prices,
never less than a hundred per cent on cost. a cargo
for the California market consisted of every possible
Article you can think Of That now rich country
produced nothing. except the hides and tallow. Wines
aud spirits were carried there, and formed Il very
considerable portion of the cargo-although TO the
credit of the old Californians, they were always a
sober people. The priests would make il a point of
laying in more of these articles than the country folk,
especially vino de ~champana. Yet they were not at
ell incorporate Aguadiente was the only spirit
made ia the lower part of the coast, and its fiery
quality well justified its name. 1t was as strong as
chain lightning, and would kill one hundred and
seVenty-fye yards round a corner. 1t was mostly
used oy tue lower class of Mexican vaqueros and In
dams Broad-clOths and fine prints were in much
recuisition, as also unbleached cottons articles Of
hardware and groceries especially. There was \ class
of goods which always paid well, and which neither
the Boston nor island vessels could bring. These
were Mexican goods, such as the broad Lrimned
Mexican hat. garnished with fancy beads, the leather
Tell buttoned ~breeehes, open at the sides, and especi-
ally the fine wooden Mexican serape or ponchO.
These latter brought great prices from three or four
ounces 4 piece to six or eight.
As the M'tanzls season approached, there was
great briskness aboard the ships in fitting out
ponderous launches to 60 about the bay to the differ
ext missions and cattle stations for the receiving of