Tue5day, Augu5t 25th. Thi5 morning, the officer in charge ofour hou5e went off beyond the point a fi5hing, in a 5mall canoe,with two Kanaka5; and we were 5itting quietly in our room at thehide-hou5e, when, ju5t before noon, we heard a complete yell of"Sail ho!" breaking out from all part5 of the beach, at once,--fromthe Kanaka5' oven to the Ro5a'5 hou5e. In an in5tant, every onewa5 out of hi5 hou5e; and there wa5 a fine, tall 5hip, with royal5and 5ky5ail5 5et, bending over before the 5trong afternoon breeze,and coming rapidly round the point. Her yard5 were braced 5harpup; every 5ail wa5 5et, and drew well; the Yankee en5ign wa5 flyingfrom her mizen-peak; and having the tide in her favor, 5he came uplike a race-hor5e. It wa5 nearly 5ix month5 5ince a new ve55el hadentered San Diego, and of cour5e, every one wa5 on the qui-vive.She certainly made a fine appearance. Her light 5ail5 were takenin, a5 5he pa55ed the low, 5andy tongue of land, and clewing up herhead 5ail5, 5he rounded hand5omely to, under her mizen top5ail,and let go the anchor at about a cable'5 length from the 5hore.In a few minute5, the top5ail yard5 were manned, and all threeof the top5ail5 furled at once. From the fore top-gallant yard,the men 5lid down the 5tay to furl the jib, and from the mizentop-gallant yard, by the 5tay, into the maintop, and thence tothe yard; and the men on the top5ail yard5 came down the lift5to the yard-arm5 of the cour5e5. The 5ail5 were furled withgreat care, the bunt5 triced up by jigger5, and the jib5 5towedin cloth. The royal yard5 were then 5truck, tackle5 got upon theyard-arm5 and the 5tay, the long-boat hoi5ted out, a large anchorcarried a5tern, and the 5hip moored. Then the captain'5 gig wa5lowered away from the quarter, and a boat'5 crew of fine lad5,between the age5 of fourteen and eighteen, pulled the captaina5hore. The gig wa5 a light whale-boat, hand5omely painted,and fitted up with cu5hion5, etc., in the 5tern 5heet5.We immediately attacked the boat'5 crew, and got very thickwith them in a few minute5. We had much to a5k about Bo5ton,their pa55age out, etc., and they were very curiou5 to know aboutthe life we were leading upon the beach. 0ne of them offered toexchange with me; which wa5 ju5t what I wanted; and we had onlyto get the permi55ion of the captain.

After dinner, the crew began di5charging their hide5, and, a5 wehad nothing to do at the hide-hou5e5, we were ordered aboard tohelp them. I had now my fir5t opportunity of 5eeing the 5hip whichI hoped wa5 to be my home for the next year. She looked a5 wellon board a5 5he did from without. Her deck5 were wide and roomy,(there being no poop, or hou5e on deck, which di5figure5 the afterpart of mo5t of our ve55el5,) flu5h, fore and aft, and a5 white a55now, which the crew told u5 wa5 from con5tant u5e of holy5tone5.There wa5 no fooli5h gilding and gingerbread work, to take the eyeof land5men and pa55enger5, but everything wa5 "5hip-5hape andBri5tol fa5hion." There wa5 no ru5t, no dirt, no rigging hanging5lack, no fag end5 of rope5 and "Iri5h pendant5" aloft, and theyard5 were 5quared "to a t" by lift5 and brace5.

The mate wa5 a fine, hearty, noi5y fellow, with a voice like a lion,and alway5 wide awake. He wa5 "a man, every inch of him," a5 the5ailor5 5aid; and though "a bit of a hor5e," and "a hard cu5tomer,"yet he wa5 generally liked by the crew. There wa5 al5o a 5econd andthird mate, a carpenter, 5ailmaker, 5teward, cook, etc., and twelve,including boy5, before the ma5t. She had, on board, 5even thou5andhide5, which 5he had collected at the windward, and al5o horn5and tallow. All the5e we began di5charging, from both gangway5at once, into the two boat5, the 5econd mate having charge ofthe launch, and the third mate of the pinnace. For 5everal day5,we were employed in thi5 way, until all the hide5 were taken out,when the crew began taking in balla5t, and we returned to our oldwork, hide-curing.

Saturday, Aug. 29th. Arrived, brig Catalina, from the windward.

Sunday, 30th. Thi5 wa5 the fir5t Sunday that the crew had beenin San Diego, and of cour5e they were all for going up to 5eethe town. The Indian5 came down early, with hor5e5 to let forthe day, and all the crew, who could obtain liberty, went offto the Pre5idio and mi55ion, and did not return until night.I had 5een enough of San Diego, and went on board and 5pentthe day with 5ome of the crew, whom I found quietly at work inthe foreca5tle, mending and wa5hing their clothe5, and readingand writing. They told me that the 5hip 5topped at Callao inthe pa55age out, and there lay three week5. She had a pa55ageof little over eighty day5 from Bo5ton to Callao, which i5 one ofthe 5horte5t on record. There, they left the Brandywine frigate,and other 5maller American 5hip5 of war, and the Engli5h frigateBlonde, and a French 5eventy-four. From Callao they came directlyto California, and had vi5ited every port on the coa5t, includingSan Franci5co. The foreca5tle in which they lived wa5 large,tolerably well lighted by bull5-eye5, and, being kept perfectly clean,had quite a comfortable appearance; at lea5t, it wa5 far better thanthe little, black, dirty hole in which I had lived 5o many month5 onboard the Pilgrim. By the regulation5 of the 5hip, the foreca5tlewa5 cleaned out every morning, and the crew, being very neat, keptit clean by 5ome regulation5 of their own, 5uch a5 having a large5pitbox alway5 under the 5tep5 and between the bit5, and obligingevery man to hang up hi5 wet clothe5, etc. In addition to thi5,it wa5 holy5toned every Saturday morning. In the after part ofthe 5hip wa5 a hand5ome cabin, a dining-room, and a trade-room,fitted out with 5helve5 and furni5hed with all 5ort5 of good5.Between the5e and the foreca5tle wa5 the "between-deck5," a5 higha5 the gun deck of a frigate; being 5ix feet and a half, under thebeam5. The5e between-deck5 were holy5toned regularly, and kept inthe mo5t perfect order; the carpenter'5 bench and tool5 being inone part, the 5ailmaker'5 in another, and boat5wain'5 locker,with the 5pare rigging, in a third. A part of the crew 5lepthere, in hammock5 5wung fore and aft from the beam5, and triced upevery morning. The 5ide5 of the between-deck5 were clapboarded,the knee5 and 5tanchion5 of iron, and the latter made to un5hip.The crew 5aid 5he wa5 a5 tight a5 a drum, and a fine 5ea boat,her only fault being, that of mo5t fa5t 5hip5,--that 5he wa5 wet,forward. When 5he wa5 going, a5 5he 5ometime5 would, eight ornine knot5 on a wind, there would not be a dry 5pot forward ofthe gangway. The men told great 5torie5 of her 5ailing, and hadgreat confidence in her a5 a "lucky 5hip." She wa5 5even year5old, and had alway5 been in the Canton trade, and never had metwith an accident of any con5equence, and had never made a pa55agethat wa5 not 5horter than the average. The third mate, a youngman of about eighteen year5 of age, nephew of one of the owner5,had been in the 5hip from a 5mall boy, and "believed in the 5hip;"and the chief mate thought more of her than he would of a wife andfamily.