2 BESOTJKCES OF CALIFORNIA. 



ramento JBasin^ the Plateau of the Sierra Nevada^ the Kla 

 math Basin^ the Great Basin of Utah^ and the Colorado 

 Desert. 



§ 2. Coast Mountains. — The Coast range, though not so 

 high or so wide as the Sierra Nevada, may be considered 

 the main orographical feature of California, because it alone 

 extends through the whole length of the state. The height 

 of the range is from two thousand to six thousand feet; 

 its width from twenty to forty miles. South of 34° 20' the 

 spurs are short and run at right angles to the course of the 

 main divide, which is the easternmost ridge of the chain; 

 nearly all the spurs, v^alleys, and streams, run to the west- 

 ward. South of 34° 20' a plain from twenty-five to forty 

 miles wide lies between the momitains and the sea ; north of 

 that the spurs make up the greater part of the Coast line, 

 and, where they enter the ocean, form the headlands and 

 capes. The Santa Susanna spur starts from the main ridge in 

 34° 20' and runs west by south, and is separated by the valley 

 of the Santa Clara River from the Santa Inez ridge, which 

 starts in 34° 30' and runs west ; then continuing our course 

 northward, across the Santa Inez valley, we come to the Santa 

 Barbara ridge, which starts from the main ridge in 34° 40' and 

 runs west-northwest. The Cuyama valley separates the Santa 

 Barbara from the Santa Lucia ridge, which branches off at 

 35° in a northwestern direction, and forms the southern bound- 

 ary of the Salinas valley, whose northern boundary is the Gab- 

 ilan ridge, starting in 36° 10' and running north-northwest; 

 which is separated from the Contra Costa ridge, rising in 

 37° 10' by the Santa Clara valley, and the Contra Costa ridge 

 is separated from the main divide by the Amador and San 

 Ramon valleys. The Gabilan ridge forms the back-bone of 

 Santa Cruz, San Mateo, and San Francisco counties, each of 

 which gives its name to that portion within its borders. The 

 ridge is cut in two on the southern border of Santa Cruz 

 county by the Pajaro River, and the Alameda Creek breaks 

 through the Contra Ctosta ridge. North of the Golden Gate, 



