'262 Beyond the Sierras. 



inches in diameter. In the vicinity of the old mission of S.in Diego there 

 are vines 120 years old, and too large for the circumference of the arms. 

 The av6rage California vineyard of to-day shows a tree of from two to live 

 inches in diameter. There are thousuid.s of acres of young j^lantiiigs, and 

 occasionally an old vineyard that has seen its day. In some places the rows 

 of trees are as close as six feet together; but, as I remember, Prof. George 

 Husmann, of Napa, told me that nine feet is the proper distance. Here, 

 in the middle of the Biirton vineyard, stands the great winery. Fresno is on 

 the border line between the raisin grape and the wine-producing varieties; 

 but the Barton makes wine. Last year the product of the establi.>?hment 

 was 385,000 gallons. Here it is, stored in these enormous casks. You pass 

 between them. If their contents should happen to gush out, you would be 

 in a worse condition than was the Duke of Clarence on the day of his sui- 

 cide. 



VVe are driven through other enormous vineyards in the neighborhood, 

 through apricot orchards, through orchards of prune trees and peach trees, 

 with some English walnuts, almonds and tigs. 



Fresno is quite a city. There is enterprise here. The fact is that, along 

 this line of the Southern Pacitic, there is still a vast opportunity for the in- 

 vestment of money; but, thou simple soul of man who readest it, I have not 

 a cent invested in the neighborhood, and never expect to have! But if I 

 had the money, you know ! 



At ten o'clock on the night of the 21st we were away for San Francisco, 

 and the next morning we saw spread out on our right a sheet of living 

 water. Welcome, lake or bay, or whatever you are! At any rate, you 

 are shiny and wet, and I hope you have lishes in you more numerous and 

 happy than these thousands of skimming water-fowl on your surface. The 

 world without water would be a dry place .' Our commandant, of whom I 

 will tell you by and by, says that it is Suisun Bay. We are heading straight 

 for Oakland. Yonder, on the other side of the water, is the town of Benicia, 

 where the boy John Heenan developed his biceps and pectoralis major be- 

 fore the days of Duke O'SuUivan and the Prince of Wales. 



By the map you will see the peculiar configuration of land and water in 

 the vicinity of San Francisco. Suisun bay, you will note, is furthest inland. 

 It is cffnnected with San Pablo bay by Martinez strait ; and the San Pablo 

 opens out into the still greater bay of San Francisco. The latter swings 

 inland and drops to the south twenty- live miles or more, dividing the penin- 

 sula of San Francisco from the mainland on the east. It is like a great 

 aquatic leaf, having the Golden Gate for its stem. These .shining waters are 

 among the most capacious and splendid of their kind in the world. Nature 

 has been very unequal in her distribution of harbors around the shores of 

 this mundane sphere. For some reason the eastern coasts of continents are 

 generally much more favored than the western. The latter are gener- 

 ally snooth and bayless for leagues on leagues away. So it is along the 

 •western coast of the United States. The harbors are few and far between- 



