This was the depot for all the vessels engaged in the
trade; each one having a large house there, built of rough boards,
in which they stowed their hides as fast as they collected them in
their trips up and down the coast, and when they had procured a
full cargo, spent a few weeks there taking it in, smoking ship,
laying in wood and water, and making other preparations for the
voyage home. The Lagoda was now about this business. When we
should be about it was more than I could tell,-- two years, at
least, I thought to myself.
I also learned, to my surprise, that the desolate-looking place we
were in furnished more hides than any port on the coast. It was
the only port for a distance of eighty miles, and about thirty
miles in the interior was a fine plane country, filled with herds
of cattle, in the centre of which was the Pueblo de los Angeles,--
the largest town in California,-- and several of the wealthiest
missions; to all of which San Pedro was the seaport.
Having made arrangements for a horse to take the agent to the
Pueblo the next day, we picked our way again over the green,
slippery rocks, and pulled toward the brig, which was so far off
that we could hardly see her, in the increasing darkness; and when
we got on board the boats were hoisted up, and the crew at supper.
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