SOUTH FARALLONE ISLAND.

The Ramparts, Tunnel Rocks, Hole in the Wall, and Pyramids.-Fisherman's Bay.

CHAPTER XII.

SAN FRANCISCO TO MOUNT SHASTA.

The Bay-Education of turkeys-The sparrow-Larks-Golden grainStubble-Bad farming-Fruit-Marysville-Bank robbery-A humming-bird fight-Staging-Companions-Highwaymen-SceneryNo grumbling-You bet'-Making oneself popular-Grizzlies-Spiritualism-Castle Rocks-Soda Springs.

THE simpler mode of going to Victoria from San Francisco is by sea, but I had been promised some good shooting in Northern California and Oregon, and was also very anxious to visit the renowned Modoc country, especially as the recent capture of Captain Jack and his band had removed all danger from the expedition. I therefore determined on making the overland journey, trusting to Providence for accomplishing the terrible three hundred miles of staging without being jolted to pieces.

As it was necessary to return to Sacramento, and thence to take the branch line as far as it was yet opened for traffic, I crossed the bay to Vallejo, and got to Sacramento by a different route to that I had before travelled. Crossing to Vallejo gives you an idea of the wonderful capabilities of California, with regard to its natural highways. In this respect there is no State in America, perhaps in the world, better off than California.

It has the ocean in front and the great bay of San Francisco, opening into other bays, and including about ninety miles in length of deep water, while beyond, it has several hundred miles of river navigation. The voyage up the bay was delightful, with ever-varying views of the Coast Range and Mounts Tamalpais and Diablo. The road to Sacramento was hot and dusty, and, except in one particular-the immense flocks of turkeys in the fields—wholly uninteresting. The education of turkeys is carried on here to a great extent in some places. These birds will eat anything and everything they can swallow, and are therefore used to destroy the armyworm' and other insects that infest the sugar-beet plantations. I should think they might be employed with great effect in destroying the locusts which create such havoc in the country, and whose ravages have hitherto defied all the efforts of man to guard against.

The English sparrow has not, up to the present time, found its way to California; the thrush and the sky-lark are also wanting. Various opinions are entertained there regarding the merits of sparrows, some people believing that their introduction would be an injury to the farmer. It is true that sparrows will eat grain, but it must be remembered that they also destroy grubs, caterpillars, and insects of nearly every description that prey upon grain and vegetation in general. The fruit-raisers of the interior might object to them, because they would occasion

ally peck at the cherries; but it is probable that even in gardens in the country they would do more service than harm. What a feast they would have on the grasshoppers, too, which march across the country leaving not a blade of vegetation behind them! The sparrows would save many a crop from being devoured.

The introduction of this bird has proved a great blessing to New York. The trees in the parks are in a much more flourishing condition than they used to be, and where formerly the worms and caterpillars held high carnival, and scarcely a leaf was to be seen on the trees, there is now beauty of foliage equalling that of the country.

The only bird to be seen in the streets of Western towns is the pigeon, which subsists principally on the scattered grain it finds in the streets, and leaves the destroyers of vegetation to work out their pleasure. The sparrow would be a great benefit to the towns, in destroying the insects that attack ornamental trees, as well as the flies and fleas that infest the sand in the streets.

There are some people always glad of a pretext for destroying harmless birds and animals. I saw an article in a San Francisco paper-written by a gentleman of that place-inviting weary business citizens of San Francisco to the sport of killing meadow-larks.' The comparative ease with which the lark-fields could be reached was urged as a reason for preferring that