Arrival in California

              Arrival in California

San Francisco Jan.(January) 15th, 1855


I am here and will and hope these few lines will find you and the children well and comfortable.
I have had a first rate passage. I enjoyed it well. I have directed a letter to father today giving some
description of the journey, which you will see, the fare on living on the boats for deck passengers was very bad viz salt musty beef and pork and sea biscuit for a meal then coarse corn meal mush and poor molasses for another, then boiled dried apple hard bread another. Bean soup another and so on, pretty hard fare but one can get along with steerage fare and I should advise any man who wants to save 100 dollars to lay in from five to ten dollars in bread and cheese dried beef and [c] then he can come along comfortable. It cost me more than 25 dollars for what I had to buy of the steward, 25 cents for a piece of soft bread so large as your four fingers and every thing at the same rate. Still they throw overboard good bread and meat and [c] the leavings of the cabin fare, they won’t give the deck people even a crust that is left, they drive to buy. But when I get ready for you to come with the children we will take cabin fare if you conclude to come. I think I  shall like the country well but can tell better after trial the weather is September like here the wild geese and ducks are plenty