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arate it from the chain, bearing the appellation of Sierra Madre, in the latter 

 province, should be adopted, for it is only by knowing the positions of our moun 

 tains that the geography of the State can ever be clearly defined. 



On the south side the plain is skirted by a range of high hills and low moun 

 tains, derived apparently from the high mountain near the coast, and on the east 

 side of the Bay of San Pedro, known as the Santa Anna, deriving its name from 

 the river which flows and discharges its waters into the sea at its base. 



The country after leaving the Monte, which is ten miles east of Los Angeles, 

 gradually attains elevation for sixty miles, at the rate of about twelve feet per 

 mile, and terminates near the western edge of the valley, on which the town of 

 San Bernardino is built. From here the ground descends for several miles, form 

 ing the beautiful valley bearing the latter name. 



For the distance of about twenty miles of the route, the country is almost a 

 perfect desert, producing but- a scanty vegetation, consisting of almost leafless 

 shrubs, with a few scattered species of the low palm tribe, and cactus. 



After crossing this desert, you enter one of, the most beautiful valleys in the 

 State, surrounded on every side by water, and a stream of considerable size, (the 

 Santa Anna,) coursing its eastern and southern border. This valley contains 

 about twelve leagues of land, and is situated about twenty miles west of the 

 mountain. Similar in climate to the plains, of Los Angeles, it is capable of pro 

 ducing the fruits and flowers of either the temperate or tropical zones. Indigo, 

 coffee and tobacco, will flourish here, and either, as a crop, would prove more 

 remunerative than those now raised in this or any other portion of the State. 

 The introduction of either, or all of these staples of trade and commerce, in this 

 locality in particular, is a subject that should command the attention of our citi 

 zens residing there. 



The production of wheat in this valley, must, for the reasons given in preceding 

 pages, prove too doubtful a crop to be relied upon as a source of revenue entirely, 

 for the blasting effects of the sea winds reach this place with ease. The charac 

 ter of the immediate and distant country that surrounds this section, must, so 

 long as they exist in their present form, induce a frequent re-enactment of the 

 disastrous results to that crop, which befel alike them and their more northern 

 and western neighbors the past year. 



The soil is possessed of almost unlimited capacities, and a fine climate exists. 

 This may be aptly illustrated by a statement of the fact, that after the blight of 

 the cereal crop in 1855; the grounds were re-plowed, and planted to maize, 

 which was nearly ready for harvest in the month of October of the same year. 

 This district, like % the primitive sections of the Sierra Nevada, produces gold in its 

 rocks and streams, sufficient in quantity to warrant mining explorations to a consid 

 erable extent. But with me it would be a matter of doubtful policy, to abandon 

 the more certain results of agricultural pursuits, with the advantages that soil and 

 climate here present for the production of those staples of trade, which as a State 

 we now so heavily import, for the more uncertain, but at times the more ready 

 product of the mine and placer. When all other means fail, they have the mate 

 rial about them that will furnish all the necessaries of life that are purchasable 

 for a long period of time- 



The streams that produce gold in this part of the State, are those of the San 

 Gabriel, Arroya del Gabon, the Santa Anna and its mountain tributaries, with the 

 valley at the base of San Bernardino, known as Valle del Oso, (Bear Valley). 

 The metal is in coarse, thick scales, and small, pin-head grains, usually but little 

 waterworn, and often quite rough. Between the mountains and Temescal, and 

 also in the direction of San Jacinto, in the entrance of the Pass of San Gorgouio,' 

 an iron-shot auriferous quartz is found. 



I regard this deposit of gold, and that of the northern slope of the San Ber- 



