INTRODUCTION 



TO 



THE FOURTH EDITION. 18G 



^ 1. Preliminary. — Since the first edition of this book was prepared 

 for the press six years have elapsed, and in that time some progress has 

 been made by the industry of California, and some new light has been 

 thrown upon the resources and physical geography of the State. In this 

 introductory chapter, I shall try to state briefly the main points of tlie 

 additional information obtained since 1862. 



§ 2. The Caliform'an Alps. — The State Geological Survey discovered, 

 in the summer of 1864, that the Sierra Nevada, between latitudes 35° and 

 38°, has the wonderful mountain region of California. Shasta, which 

 towers in solitary grandeur 7,000 feet above every thing in its vicinity, 

 and shows its mantle of eternal snow to a wide area in three States, is no 

 longer our highest peak. Mt. Whitney, in latitude 36° 30', which is 

 surrounded by so many other peaks of nearly equal height as to attract 

 no special attention from a distance, rises to about 15,000 feet, while 

 Shasta is only 14,440. • 



Not only is Shasta dethroned, but also Switzerland. The Helvetian 

 Republic has, for hundreds of years, had the fame of possessing the great- 

 est area of elevated land, and the largest number of great peaks within 

 the limit of high civilization, but the newly discovered mountain region 

 surpasses that of Sv/itzerland. That country has only four peaks above 

 13,000 feet, and not more than 150 square miles above 8,000 feet, while 

 we have LOG peaks above 13,000 feet and 300 or more square miles above 

 8,000 feet. 



