U.S.S. "Ranger".                    

July 4 – 1881.            

At anchor off Carmen Isl^d

Gulf of California

 

Dear Alice,

                        Your letter of May 8^th I received just before leaving La Paz to go up the Gulf, here it is 4^th July, and we have to wait 10 or 12 more days before we get our next mail and in case we don't get it there, then we will have to wait until we reach Magdalena Bay, on the Pac. side. It is an awful long time to wait. You speak of warm weather in New York, I suppose you feel it more, coming as it does after such a cold winter, but for hot weather, this is the place & no mistake. / I don't blame the folks in this hot climate for getting lazy. I feel pretty much so myself.

 

            There is nothing interesting up here, the little villages, &c., are some distance back from the coast, so that there is nothing to see or buy unless you go inland some ways, and you won't catch me doing that of my own free will. Meat is all too tough unless it is cooked, then stewed, then chopped up for hash, chickens tough enough to have been as old as Methuselah. Fruit is of fair quality when you can get hold of it. lastly our fish are caught by our own men, & of this, we have to eat it as soon as caught, or it is bad, & goes overboard.

 

I have tried to get hold / of some tortoise shell, but have not succeeded yet, and quite expected to get some of those feathered cards, birds of different kinds, but I wrote to Mama that we could not find any except rough, dirty looking things, that I would not take as a gift. I bought some white neck ties in Acap Mazatlan, one I found to have a fancy figure at the end that I don't care to wear, so send it to you. Come to look at it it is pretty heavy but think I will send it. I shall have to buy some in San Francisco as they are cheaper & better there, or else write Mama to buy some cheaper ones in New York. They generally buy them by the dozen here & wear them until they get dirty & throw them / away. If I find I cant get them washed cheaply in Vallejo, will send them to you, as they cost too much for washing down here.

 

            I hope you are through with your school before this. I wish we could all go to Erie for the summer months.

 

We had a splendid view of the eclipse of the moon, and of a comet, which is still visible. And I wish you could see a mirage such as we saw when we were coming down. It was perfect. The mouth of the Colorado, & the mountains, tho' 75 to 140 miles away, were as plain as tho' but 5 miles off. I suppose you won't know what to do this summer, no school no lessons. Take a good rest and have a good time, wish I was with you. will say good bye with much love, will add a few lines bye & bye /

 

July 10—Pichilingue Bay

Lower California

U.S.S. Ranger.

We are enjoying a quiet Sunday here if anything can be enjoyed in this hot place. Thermometer yesterday 104, every where, all the blessed day long, in the shade and 138 in the sun. They say this is the hottest summer weather for years. In Guaymas they have had terrible weather for the past 2 weeks, glad we did not stop there. They had to stop all manner of work for several hours middle of the day. We will get out of this Gulf soon as our mail comes on Wednesday a.m. or Tuesday evening, and none of us will be sorry. Nearly all the officers have been down here several times before this, but they are all groaning about the heat, and it is slightly warm. This whole peninsula (Lower Cal.) seems to be of volcanic origin, and the Islands too in the Gulf, of which there are quite a lot, all of them especially uninteresting. They want one more volcanic disturbance here, one that would / quietly let the whole peninsula down under water again, and there let it remain. It would not be much loss.

 

I was on deck a little while ago, and just at the right time to see another kind "devil fish". The one I wrote Mama about was another kind, which is the real kind I don't know. One is an Octopus & the other is the "Devil fish". One has long tentacles and the other has none. The one I saw today had none but had flexible things like the wings of a bat. The body was as large as Mamas room, the hall room & trunk room with the landing. It lay alongside the ship, & as the sun was shining on the water we had a good view of it. Its head projected about like the bat, and they say its mouth is large enough to / take a man. The Captain shot a shark as we came in here but we could not stop, it was a huge fellow, kept up with the ship for a long time, close alongside, but as he shot it it fell behind as tho' injured, and disappeared.

 

            July 13—

Wednesday evening. The mail is not in yet so here we are. The two past nights have been very pleasant but today has been very hot again.

 

Last evening while we were on deck, about sunset, about 2000 porpoises came in and passed up the bay, all turning and tumbling over, jumping out of the water in all kind of ways, making as much noise as tho' we heard the breakers, it sounded just like it. They went up towards La Paz & in about two hours came tumbling back again, it was a funny sight. I wish you could have seen them.

 

            They say the mail will be in / tomorrow morning, I hope so.

 

The Capt. thinks of going out to Redes Rock from here in that case we won't get back to S.F. middle to latter part of August.

            Remember me to Mandy John & Henry & Aunt Ellen. I hope all are well, and that you are well too, take care of your knee. The bag for the steamer is being got ready so will close, with much love from

                                                                                               

Papa,

                                                                       

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