408 KESOUECES OF CALIFORNIA. 



has mail comminiicatioii with San Francisco twice a month 

 by steamer, and twice a week by stage. It is also con- 

 nected with the main towns of the state by a line of telegraph. 

 The general impression upon my mind, after spending the last 

 week in September in the place, is that it is one of the most 

 pleasant places in the world, known to me, to visit. The lux- 

 uriant vegetation, with its semi-tropical character, is peculiarly 

 agreeable to the sons of the North. The " chrae of the sun," 

 " the land of the cypress and myrtle," " where the citron 

 blooms and the golden oranges glow amidst the dark-green 

 leaves, have ever been with the poets of the colder lands tiie 

 symbols of a terrestrial paradise, and some of the most bril- 

 liant verses of Goethe and Byron have been inspired by ad- 

 miration of them. The song of Mignon came vividly before 

 me as I walked through the gardens of the City of the Angels. 

 Luscious fruits, of many species and unnumbered varieties, 

 loaded the trees. Gentle breezes came through the bowers. 

 The water rippled musically through the zanjas. Delicious 

 odors came from all the most fragrant flowers of the temper- 

 ate zone. Julius Froebel speaks thus of Los Angeles in his 

 book Aus America : " I could wish no better home for my- 

 self and my friends than such a one as noble, sensible men 

 could here make for themselves. Nature has preserved here, 

 in its workings and phenomena, that medium between too 

 much and too little, which was one of the great conditions of 

 hio^h civilization in the classic regions of ancient times. Indeed, 

 when we seek in other lands for places like Los Angeles and 

 Southern California generally, we must turn our eyes to the 

 Levant. In the L^nited States there are no kindred spots." 

 The town is situated on the banks of the Los Angeles 

 River, twenty-five miles from the ocean. The population 

 numbers about 3,500. The port of Los Angeles is San Pedro, 

 twenty^ve miles southward, where there are only a couple of 

 houses. 



§ 279. Petaluma. — Petal um.a, situated on the flat bank of 

 the navigable creek of the same name, ten miles from San 



