Being that I hail from California, Dana’s delightful descriptions of my home state are extremely interesting.  Imagine San Francisco Bay, or San Diago compleatly free of the industrial bull that clogs its modern arteries.

He states that if California was to ever become a prosperous country this bay(San Francisco) would be the center of its prosperity.

The great imagery that Dana presents lend themselves to my memories.  Carrying as many seal coats as humanly possible down the beautiful sandy beaches of Santa Barbera to a waiting longboat, then battling with the waves to get back to the Brig.  These images are perfect, the beaches of Santa Barbara face south, meaning that they get really good swells, this would make the task of rowing a heavy wooden boat filled with cargo very difficult.  

            Many of the words that are used, so common today, are explained by the author.  Presumably because much of the nautical vocabulary used in the text was just that at the time, nautical.  The layman knew not the terms of the sea, so Dana needs to explain.