HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 145 



the result of hasty judgment, and a dislike of that 

 which is different from that to which we have been 

 used. 



The soil of California has also been the subject of 

 various and conflicting statements. Many of those 

 who have spent some months in the country, and re- 

 turned to publish their hastily gathered observations, 

 either set down the soil as totally unfit for agricultural 

 purposes, or, having been located in some garden spot 

 the great portion of their time of residence there, pro- 

 nounce it unsurpassed for richness and fertility. As 

 Mr. King visited California with the sole object of 

 making accurate observations upon the territory and 

 its resources, the statements of the character of the 

 soil which are given in his report will carry greater 

 weight than any other. He says — 



" The valleys which are situated parallel to the 

 coast range, and those which extend eastwardly in all 

 directions among the hills, towards the great plain of 

 the Sacramento, are of unsurpassed fertility. 



" They have a deep black alluvial soil, which has 

 the appearance of having been deposited when they 

 were covered with water. This idea is strengthened 

 by the fact that the rising grounds on the borders of 

 these valleys, and many hills of moderate elevation, 

 have a soil precisely like that of the adjoining plains. 



" This soil is so porous that it remains perfectly un- 

 broken by gullies, notwithstanding the great quantity 

 of water which falls in it annually during the wet 

 season. The land in the northern part of the terri- 

 tory, on the Trinity and other rivers, and on the bor- 

 ders of Clear Lake, as far as it has been examined, is 

 said to be remarkably fertile. 



"The great valley of the Sacramento and San 

 13 



