246 Transactions of the 



commodation of commerce, of which San Francisco Ba3 r , located near 

 the center of the State from north to south, is the largest and principal 

 one. 



The State is divided from north to south into three grand natural 

 divisions — a vast plain or inland basin through the center, with the 

 coast range of mountains stretching its entire length on the west, and 

 the Sierra Nevada Mountains on the east — the two ranges coming 

 together near the northern and southern boundaries. The northern 

 half of this plain is drained by the Sacramento Biver, and the southern 

 half by the San Joaquin — the former having its rise near the northern 

 extremity of the State, receives through numerous tributaries the entire 

 water from the inside watershed of these two mountain ranges and the 

 northern half of the plain, and empties it into the San Francisco Bay 

 through the Carquinez Straits. The latter, rising near the junction of 

 the mountain chains at the south, collects, in the same manner, the 

 waters from the southern watershed of these mountain ranges and the 

 southern half of the interior plain, and conveys the same in a northerly 

 direction to and through the same straits, and into the same bay. The 

 northern half of this inland plain is generally called the Sacramento 

 Valley, and the southern half the San Joaquin Valley, and the two, 

 together with the thousands of smaller valleys on either side of the 

 main valleys, and nestled in the foothills of the surrounding mountains, 

 constitute the main agricultural portion of the State, and contain about 

 forty millions acres of good arable land adapted to the cultivation of the 

 cereals, and to general agriculture and grazing. Within the divid- 

 ing lines of these mountain ranges, and not coming under the descrip- 

 tion of valley lands, we may mention the rolling elevations, or 

 approaches to the high mountains known here as foothills, containing 

 from fifteen to twenty million acres of good land for vineyards, general 

 fruit culture, including all the semi-tropical fruits, and silk culture, and 

 sheep and cashmere goat raising. In that section of the State im- 

 mediately around San Francisco Bay, are a number of large inland val- 

 le} r s, some of which are drained by navigable streams emptying into the 

 bay, among which are Napa, Sonoma, and Petaluma. On the opposite 

 side of this bay are the Livermore and Santa Ulara Valleys. All of 

 these valleys are among the richest and most fertile portions of the 

 State. 



Along the seacoast, and stretching at right angles with the same into 

 the western slope of the coast range, is another system of valleys, 

 among the largest and most important of which are the Bussian Biver 

 and Salinas, the former of which is largely devoted to stock raising, 

 and the latter to the production of the cereals. There are hundreds of 

 smaller vallej^s along the coast, each being separated by broken and 

 craggy spurs of the coast range, all of which are rich and fertile, and 

 many of which are furnished by nature with small but safe harbors for 

 coasting vessels to lie in while unloading supplies and taking on the 

 produce of the section. 



All south of the southern terminus of the great San Joaquin Valley, 

 or plain, and consisting of Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, San Bernardino, 

 San Luis Obispo, Ventura, and Kern Counties, is called Southern Cali- 

 fornia. This whole section is one of great irregularity, being broken 

 into fragments, and divided into valleys, high table lands, and cragged 

 spurs of mountains, and embraces nearly one third of the surface of 

 California, or about thirty million acres. 



