Ships were met by a pilot boat that guided them into the harbor and checked to see that they met harbor regulations. Merchants often came out on small boats to bargain for the ship's cargo. 

In the first years after the Gold Rush, San Francisco needed workers, and employers crowded the wharf inquiring whether recently arrived miners had special skills or training, e.g., as cooks, blacksmiths, printers, sailors, longshoremen, etc. 

Argonauts who kept journals tell of the beauty of the bay, the crowds they met on the "Long Wharf" and their first impressions of the city. Some left the ship with a momentary tug of nostalgia for a familiar place. Virtually all made an immediate dash to pick up mail that may have arrived for them. The longing for loved ones as they stepped ashore in a strange land was acute. 

Part I, Lesson 10

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