Incidents on land and water

A first-person narrative recounts the author’s seafaring life and four years on the Pacific coast, beginning with childhood recollections and a transoceanic voyage laden with coal that culminates in multiple shipboard fires and losses. The account moves through stops at the Falklands and South Sea islands, a perilous passage around Cape Horn, and an overland crossing of the Isthmus, arriving in San Francisco amid a major conflagration. Extended chapters describe life in Marysville, hotel keeping, mining experiences, social amusements, local disasters, crime and executions, and settler hardships, before a final homeward voyage and reflective observations on morals and conduct in California.