412 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 



tary to Saii Francisco Bay for large sea-going vessels. It has 

 a fine harbor, perfectly protected against all winds, with good 

 holdinjr-ofround, and extent enousrh to accommodate all the 

 commerce which will ever visit it. That portion sufficiently 

 deep at low water for vessels drawing four fathoms, is three 

 miles long by a quarter of a mile wide, and for smaller vessels 

 the harbor is much larger. The best chart of the harbor is 

 N'o. 61 in the U. S. Coast Survey Report for 1857, which re- 

 port can be found in all public and many private libraries. 

 The navigation to the harbor from the Golden Gate, a distance 

 of twenty-six miles, is excellent, the channel being wide and 

 deep, and the winds strong and regular. 



Secondly. — The town is in the midst of a fertile district. 

 The country north of San Pablo and Suisun Bays is the richest 

 agricultural district of the state. The valleys of Petaluma, 

 Santa Rosa, Russian River, Sonoma, Napa, Suscol, Suisun, 

 and Vaca, form a collection which, for extent of fertile soil, 

 abundance of water, and mildness of climate, have no equal of 

 like extent in California. These lie to the northwest, north, 

 and northeast of Vallejo, while south and southeast lie the San 

 Pablo, San Ramon, Amador, and Diablo valleys. 



Thirdly. — Vallejo has a magnificent site for a town. The pres- 

 ent village is built on the slopes of hills about a hundred or a hun- 

 dred and fifty feet high, which rise from the harbor so gently, 

 that a heavily laden wagon can be drawn over without an extra 

 team. There are no deep gullies, and no sand. About half a 

 mile back from the landing- lies a beautiful and verv fertile 

 plain, called "Vallejo Valley," several miles wide and extend- 

 ing from the lower part of the harbor, upon which it opens, 

 northward to Suscol. I have never seen a city provided with 

 such a magnificent place for country residences as this. 



Fourthly. — The town must be the main trading point of a 

 large agricultural population. Suscol is now one of the best- 

 tilled parts of the state. 



^//'M/y.— Vallejo has peculiar railroad facilities. She can 

 have railroads running almost the entire distance on level 



