CHAPTER XXIII.
THE CLUB MEN GO A FISHING.
Captain Bloomsbury was perfectly right when he said that almost everything was ready for the commencement of the great work which the Club men had to accomplish.

Considering how much was required, this was certainly saying a great deal; but here also, as on many other occasions, fortune had singularly favored the Club men.
San Francisco Bay, as everybody knows, though one of the finest and safest harbors in the world, is not without some danger from hidden rocks.

One of these in particular, the Anita Rock as it was called, lying right in mid channel, had become so notorious for the wrecks of which it was the cause, that, after much time spent in the consideration of the subject, the authorities had at last determined to blow it up.
This undertaking having been very satisfactorily accomplished by means of _dynamite_ or giant powder, another improvement in the harbor had been also undertaken with great success.

The wrecks of many vessels lay scattered here and there pretty numerously, some, like that of the _Flying Dragon_, in spots so shallow that they could be easily seen at low water, but others sunk at least twenty fathoms deep, like that of the _Caroline_, which had gone down in 1851, not far from Blossom Rock, with a treasure on board of 20,000 ounces of gold.

The attempt to clear away these wrecks had also turned out very well; even sufficient treasure had been recovered to repay all the expense, though the preparations for the purpose by the contractors, M'Gowan and Co.