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villages of saintly names, San Rafael, Santa Clara, San Leandro, and the rest, all nestle near the water's edge, while on the higher grounds, among the creeks and caions, nearly all the settlements have English names.
Searsville, Crystal Springs, and School House Station, cover Santa Clara, San Mateo, and San Bruno on these western heights, while Dublin, Danville, and Lafayette cover San Lorenzo, San Antonio, and San Pablo on those eastern heights.
White settlers seize the water edges in all places where a pier is wanted or a factory can be built.
They clasp the Bay in railway lines, adorn the tide with sailing ships, pollute the shore with smoking chimneys, bridge the narrows with ferry boats.
Where water pays, they hug the shore, defying chills and fevers for the sake of gain ; but these White settlers never linger in the swamps, like Mexicans and Half-breeds, merely because the gourds grow quickly and the fish is cheap.
Driven by a stronger spirit than any nati-ve knows, they search the hills and ravines, fastening on soils which no Mexican ever dreamt of bringing under rake and plough.
They search the passes through and through ; here tapping at the rock for
1875.
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