GEORGE, an elegant English poet, the youngest son of Dr Edwin Sandys (Sandes or Sands he also wrote it), archbishop of York, was born at the palace of Bishopsthorpe in 1577. In 1589, the year after his father's death, he entered St Mary Hall, Oxford, and afterwards, as Wood supposes, he became a member of Corpus Christi, where his elder brother Edwin was educated under Dr Hooker. Izaak Walton, in his life of Hooker, tells us that "this Edwin was afterwards Sir Edwin Sandys, and as famous for his Speculum Europae as his brother George for making posterity beholden to his pen by a learned relation and comment on his dangerous and remarkable Travels, and for his harmonious translation of the Psalms of David, the Book of Job, and other poetical parts of Holy Writ, into most high and elegant verse." His Travels, which were published in 1615, were dedicated to Charles, Prince of Wales, and bore the title of A Relation of a Journey begun in 1610, in Four Books, containing a Description of the Turkish Empire, of Egypt, of the Holy Land, and of the remote parts of Italy and Islands adjoining. Sandys appears to have succeeded his brother as treasurer to the English colony of Virginia, where he prepared his translation of the Metamorphoses of Ovid. In 1636-8 appeared his poetical version of the books of Psalms, Job, Ecclesiastes, &c.; and in 1639 his Christ's Passion, a tragedy by Grotius. His last work, the poetical translation of the Song of Solomon, was published in 1642. He died at Braxley Abbey in Kent, in March 1643-44.

The merits of George Sandys as a poetical translator stand very high. Although now fallen considerably into neglect, he seems to have been duly appreciated by the more discerning of his contemporaries. Waller describes him as having enriched our vulgar tongue; and Dryden, the best judge of his day in matters relating to poetry, pronounced him "the best versifier of the former age." This judgment has been recently confirmed by Warton and Lisle Bowles. Selections from Sandy's Metrical Paraphrases have been published, with a Life of the Poet by the Rev. H. J. Todd, London, 1839.

SAN FELIPE, a town of Venezuela, in the department of Caracas, near the left bank of the Yuracuy, 60 San Felipe miles W.N.W. of Valencia. It is well built, but lies in a low, unhealthy region, liable to inundations. Coffee, cacao, and rice are produced here, and there is an active trade. Pop. 7000.

SAN FELIPE DE ACONCAGUA, capital of the province of Aconcagua in Chili, on the right bank of the river of the same name, 40 miles north of Santiago. It is well built, and is considered one of the finest towns in the interior. There are here three convents, and in the vicinity copper and gold mines. Pop. 8000.

SAN FRANCISCO, the capital of a county of the same name, and chief commercial city of California, in the United States of North America, at the mouth of the splendid bay of San Francisco, through which the river Sacramento issues into the sea, N. Lat. 37.48., W. Long. 122.26. It occupies the northern extremity of a tongue of land that encloses the bay on the west; and its site consists of a sandy plain, gently sloping from the hills behind down to the bay. The city was originally built round a semi-circular face facing the north-east, but this is now covered with warehouses erected on piles, and the rapidly increasing buildings are extending backwards from the water and climbing the hills behind, which are only about half a mile from the shore. From Telegraph Hill to the north, a magnificent view is obtained over the city and surrounding country. To the west lies the ocean and the entrance of the bay; to the north its northern arm, leading up the Sacramento river, and ever studded with steamers; to the east, beyond the broad sheet of water, a panorama of wooded hills, with the cone of Monte Diablo in the distance; and to the south the city itself, with its perpetual bustle and activity, its wharves crowded with shipping from all parts of the world. The streets are all regularly laid out, crossing one another at right angles; but the buildings exhibit the utmost variety in the form and materials of their construction, though brick is now beginning to be most generally used. Some of the public buildings, such as the churches, schools, hospitals, theatres, &c., are equal to any in the United States; and many of the hotels and shops are large and splendid. But the rapidity of the changes that come over the appearance of San Francisco renders it vain to give any detailed description. Many important manufactures are carried on in the town. There are two sugar-houses, a paper mill, two steam barrel factories, oil-works, and shipbuilding yards; while agricultural implements, furniture, carriages, tubs, pails, musical instruments, &c., are also made here.

The history of the place, especially its recent rapid rise, is not a little remarkable. Its original name was Yerba Buena, and it first rose in connection with one of the Spanish mission settlements, called San Francisco, founded in 1776. From that period till 1831 the settlement continued to flourish under the Spanish, and latterly under the Mexican, government; but the disturbances which then agitated the country drove away the Indians, and reduced the settlement to ruins. A new city was founded in 1839, but the population in 1845 did not exceed 150. Numerous settlers from the United States began to flock hither, even before California was ceded to that country in 1848. But in the December of the previous year a new era opened for San Francisco with the discovery of gold. No sooner was the fact generally known, in the next spring, than the city was almost deserted for the diggings; trade was at an end, and all business seemed to have ceased. But this did not last long, for in the month of August eager crowds of emigrants began to arrive, the harbour was thronged with ships, and the city far more than before alive with bustle and din. Building was soon commenced with vigour, the value of property rose rapidly, and in little more than a year the population had risen to more than 15,000. De- San Francisco's fires broke out on several occasions, and laid large portions of the city in ashes; but these injuries were speedily repaired. By these calamities, as well as by a reckless expenditure, the financial affairs of the city were reduced to a very low state; but by the imposition of heavy taxes the credit was restored from a state of almost hopeless bankruptcy. So much gold poured into the town as to render it necessary in 1853 to establish a mint in San Francisco. Its operations since it commenced in 1854 have been as follows:

| Years | Gold | Silver | |-------|------|--------| | | Bars | Fine Bars | Bars and Coins | Bars | Total | | 1854 | 1,187,811 | 1,232 | 2,027,406 | ... | ... | | 1855 | 681,371 | 18,493 | 4,306,303 | ... | 34,180 | | 1856 | 634,790 | 25,442 | 5,899,066 | 4915 | 41,783 | | 1857 | ... | ... | 2,062,081 | ... | 10,416 | | 1858 | 170,058 | ... | 4,015,942 | 4112 | 39,728 | | Total | 2,674,039 | 45,167 | 18,910,707 | 9027 | 117,117 |

There are, however, other articles besides gold received from the interior of California, as is exhibited in the following table:

| Articles | Aug. 1st 1855, to July 1st 1856 | July 1st 1856, to July 1st 1857 | July 1st 1857, to July 1st 1858 | July 1st 1858, to Dec. 29th 1858 | |----------|--------------------------------|---------------------------------|---------------------------------|---------------------------------| | Flour (sacks) | 178,644 | 152,509 | 441,825 | 179,690 | | Wheat | 463,672 | 340,030 | 434,052 | 337,179 | | Barley | 297,599 | 455,823 | 567,568 | 576,219 | | Oats | 148,996 | 157,314 | 186,039 | 241,328 | | Potatoes | 390,759 | 343,081 | 330,307 | 159,280 | | Corn | 7,142 | 10,821 | 9,096 | 3,450 | | Rye | 770 | 3,225 | 2,899 | 1,191 | | Buck wheats | 1,682 | 1,536 | 2,635 | 1,738 | | Beans | 30,976 | 55,285 | 65,076 | 43,057 | | Bran | 31,951 | 38,169 | 38,044 | 30,650 | | Hay (bales) | 95,185 | 70,361 | 53,554 | ... |

The number of the vessels that entered the port in 1855 was 1520; tonnage, 517,919; in 1856, number 1455; tonnage, 444,015; in 1857, number 1583; tonnage, 427,566; and in 1858, number 1441; tonnage, 467,529. The total for the last year was made up as follows:

| From | No. | Tonnage | |------|-----|---------| | United States on the Pacific Ocean | 988 | 158,336 | | " " " Atlantic Ocean | 194 | 114,321 | | Panama | 28 | 54,565 | | Vancouver's Island | 103 | 63,098 | | China | 26 | 20,379 | | Great Britain | 18 | 14,737 | | Chile | 18 | 8,184 | | Mexico | 48 | 6,835 | | Australia | 15 | 6,362 | | Sandwich Islands | 22 | 5,585 | | Franco | 9 | 4,468 | | Asiatic and American Russia | 9 | 4,402 | | Manilla | 4 | 2,605 | | Batavia | 5 | 1,913 | | Calcutta | 4 | 1,902 | | Siam (Bangkok) | 4 | 1,715 | | Society Islands | 10 | 1,573 | | Whale fishery | 8 | 1,330 | | Hamburg | 4 | 1,280 | | Callao | 5 | 1,255 | | Rio de Janeiro | 3 | 1,167 | | Central America | 4 | 754 | | Other ports | 2 | 813 | | Total | 1441 | 467,529 |

The imports from different countries vary considerably in different years: those from the whale fishery have regularly fallen off for the last four years; those from Australia have remained stationary; those from Mexico, China, the East Indies, and South America have increased; and those from Vancouver's Island have been almost entirely created since the discovery of gold there. The imports from foreign countries to San Francisco were in 1856 valued at L1,520,795; in 1857 at L1,903,624; and in 1858 at L1,872,856. The most important articles of import are rice, coffee, sugar, wine and spirits, timber, and coal. The following table exhibits the tonnage of vessels that left San Francisco in the last three years for various ports, exclusive of the Pacific states of the Union.

| To | 1856 | 1857 | 1858 | |----|------|------|------| | Vancouver's Island | 4,867 | 6,278 | 224,418 | | New York, &c. | 231,977 | 449,581 | 267,598 | | Mexico | 162,829 | 154,010 | 146,271 | | Australia | 234,031 | 65,539 | 79,184 | | Sandwich Islands | 51,935 | 61,497 | 56,984 | | China | 49,984 | 65,391 | 44,699 | | Chile | 24,327 | 32,820 | 28,897 | | Peru | 70,348 | 29,101 | 28,720 | | Asiatic and American Russia | 26,646 | 21,904 | 11,880 | | Other countries | 25,462 | 20,222 | 32,750 | | Total | 882,346 | 906,383 | 991,401 |

In these numbers the quantity of gold exported is not included, but the principal articles are timber, hides, wool, quicksilver, and marble. The value of gold exported in these years from San Francisco is as follows:

| To | 1856 | 1857 | 1858 | 1858—up to April Ist. | |----|------|------|------|----------------------| | New York | 8,284,410 | 7,331,615 | 7,412,123 | 1,615,704 | | England | 1,505,471 | 1,947,443 | 1,930,375 | 458,083 | | China | 272,674 | 623,591 | 329,165 | 178,028 | | New Orleans | 27,082 | 50,832 | 65,206 | 44,998 | | Panama | 52,760 | 85,608 | 62,343 | 14,703 | | Sandwich Islands | 50,195 | 18,081 | 20,135 | 8,507 | | Manila | 27,760 | 58,102 | 10,410 | ... | | Other ports | 41,460 | 68,179 | 6,068 | ... | | Total | 10,561,812 | 10,203,451 | 9,905,829 | 2,222,023 |

San Francisco is now rapidly rising above its former condition of being a mere landing-place for the gold-diggers; the population is becoming more settled; the turbulence and reckless speculation of the first miners have given place to order and security; the agricultural wealth of the country is being developed, and the trade in gold is every year forming a smaller proportion of the whole trade of the place. The population of San Francisco, which according to the State census of 1852 was 34,776, was estimated in 1853 to be from 50,000 to 60,000.