Volume III in Louis Rasmussen's distinguished series dealing with passenger arrivals at the port of San Francisco covers a seven-month period during which approximately 25,000 persons arrived at the port of San Francisco--nearly 50% more than the number of arrivals for the preceding 18-month period covered in Volume II. The year 1852 witnessed a surge in migration to California, and this volume reflects the initial thrust of that surge. The passenger lists are arranged in chronological order, and, typically, each passenger list is introduced with the following notations: name of ship, type of ship, port of embarkation, date of arrival, name of captain, description of cargo, and notes concerning the passage (date of departure, ports of call, length of voyage, and names of passengers who died en route, with their places of residence and dates of death). The list of passengers follows and sometimes identifies accompanying family members.