258 Beyond the Sierraf>. 



hind you on the mountain-side, and far above. To one unaeru^iuintd to 

 siuh wild and niagnilicent scenery, and such astonishing windings about of 

 the rushing train, the scene before and beliind, above and below, on the 

 right and on the left, leaves on the niind an inii)rcssion of sublimity and of 

 the triumph of human genius over the tremendous obstacles of the natural 

 worlil which can never be removed by circumstance or dimmed by the lapse 

 of years. 



We now Hnd ourselves at the bottom, or cul-de-sac, of the great valley 

 of San Joaquin. Again, reader, consult the map. This splendid valley 

 stretches, as you will see, from this bottom against the mountiiins to the 

 latitude of San Francisco. There it is joined from the north, jvs you 

 will further observe, by the equally magnificent valley of the Sacra- 

 mento. These two plains are the glory of California. They are formed 

 as follows: The San Joaquin river, taking its rise in the mountain ranges 

 of Mariposa, flows down into the i)lain, and thence makes its way to the 

 north through a distance of more than a hundred miles. In like manner 

 the Sacramento, gathering his waters from the great ranges about Mt. Shasta 

 and Mt. Cloud, and, indeed, from all the mountiiin spurs as high as the lati- 

 tude of Goose lake under parallel 42^ N., descends to the level, and flows 

 with full volume to the south until, at a point due east of San Francisco, the 

 two rivers join their waters and fall into Suisun bay. Thus it is that one 

 great valley, fully four hundred miles in length and in some places nearly a 

 hundred miles in breadth, sweeps from north to south ami from bculh to 

 north through the center of the Golden State. 



This region is the foundation, the basal fact, of those tremendous pro- 

 ductive resources which, as much as her geld, aye, more than her gold, has 

 justified California in calling herself the Eldorado of the world. This is the 

 region where, aforetime, the older men of the California of to-day became 

 the kings of the flocks and herds. It was on this magniticent plain, espe- 

 cially in the northern part of it, that twenty years ago the traveler might see 

 the expanse clouded, here and there and everywhere, with thousands and 

 hundreds of thousands of cattle and sheep. Such ranges as were established 

 in this limitless valley were never seen otherwhere in the world, except in 

 New South Wales and Queensland, and there only for sheep. Even to-day , 

 as you sit by your window journeying from Caliente to Fresno and from 

 Fresno to Lathrop, you see, ever and anon, the shades and ghosts of the 

 magniflcent herds which once flourished on this beautiful plain. 



By the time our excursionists were well on their way to San Francisco 

 we became aware that we had had the good fortune to attract the favorable 

 attention of the people of the Golden State. Everywhere we were met with 

 marks of favor and esteem. Doubtless, to a certain extent, the Californians 

 were, for interested reasons, desirous that we should be well impressed with 

 their country and themselves; but the members of the American Horti- 

 cultural Society are the last of mankind to remember or consider this part 

 of the subject. We recall only the hospitality with which we were treated 



