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Great preparations were making on shore for the marriage of our agent , who was to marry Donna Anneta De G - - - De N - - - y C - - - , youngest daughter of Don Antonio N - - - , the grandee of the place , and the head of the first family in California . The great amusement of the evenings , - which I suppose was owing to its being carnival - was the breaking of eggs filled with cologne , or other essences , upon the heads of the company . It was not easy to sleep , lying , as I did , with my head directly against the bows , which might be dashed in by an island of ice , brought down by the very next sea that struck her . Captain T - - - turned round , looked at him from head to foot , and saying coolly , " Hallo ! When a large piece of ice was seen in our way , or drifting near us , the word was passed along , and the ship 's head turned one way and another ; and sometimes the yards squared or braced up . No thanks , thought I , as we left the sandy shores in the distance , for the hours I have walked over your stones , barefooted , with hides on my head ; - for the burdens I have carried up your steep , muddy hill ; - for the duckings in your surf ; and for the long days and longer nights passed on your desolate hill , watching piles of hides , hearing the sharp bark of your eternal coati , and the dismal hooting of your owls . This filled up the measure of the agent 's unpopularity , and never after this could he get anything done by any of the crew ; and many a delay and vexation , and many a good ducking in the surf , did he get to pay up old scores , or " square the yards with the bloody quill-driver . Unfortunately , there was no moon , but it was a clear night , and we could plainly mark the long , regular heaving of the stupendous mass , as its edges moved slowly against the stars . Its great size ; - for it must have been from two to three miles in circumference , and several hundred feet in height ; - its slow motion , as ts base rose and sank in the water , and its high points nodded against the clouds ; the dashing of the waves upon it , which , breaking high with foam , lined its base with a white crust ; and the thundering sound of the cracking of the mass , and the breaking and tumbling down of huge pieces ; together with its nearness and approach , which added a slight element of fear , - all combined to give to it the character of true sublimity . The main body of the mass was , as I have said , of an indigo color , its base crusted with frozen foam ; and as it grew thin and transparent toward the edges and top , its color shaded off from a deep blue to the whiteness of snow . We passed directly under the high cliff on which the Presidio is built , and stood into the middle of the bay , from whence we could see small bays , making up into the interior , on every side ; large and beautifully-wooded islands ; and the mouths of several small rivers .