However gay this little cove may appear by day it is by the pale light of the moon that Belvedere, like Venice, is at her best; for the harsher lines of fact are mellowed, and imagination gives the floating habitations a fairy aspect, while the strains of the military band from the Island but lend to the fantasy.
On the opposite side of Belvedere is situated one of the most prosperous industries conducted in Marin County.
Nestling at the base of the cliffs on an extensive wharf built for the purpose are the buildings of the Union Fish Company. The Company has several fishing stations in Alaska, the most extensive of which are on the Shumagin and Popof Islands. A schooner plying between the stations and this port brings the fish direct to the fishery, where they are prepared for use.
An Artistic Church.
At the time of our visit, the schooner, which had arrived but a few days previously, was unloading and we were thus fortunate enough to see the evolution of the codfish from the time it leaves the hold of the ship until it is packed in neat boxes ready for shipment.
There were four hundred tons, or one hundred and seventy thousand fish on the vessel. When one thinks that each fish is caught by hook and line, the amount of work represented seems enormous, but this is a mere bagatelle compared to the process following.
On leaving the hold they are first thrown into vats of brine for rinsing, then loaded on small cars operated on a track and run into the building; from thence they are laid on immense racks in the sun to dry. If not for immediate shipment they are stored in huge vats of brine.