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Valley of the Sacramento. The Sierra. 

 The San Joachim. 



CALIFORNIA. 



Climate of California. 

 The Sacramento. 



Range, which is a continuation of the Cascade Range 

 of Oregon, and whose southern summits are cap- 

 ped with snow. This range gradually decreases in 

 height, until it declines into hills of moderate ele- 

 vation. To the east of the Californian Mountains 

 are the vast sandy plains, of which we know but 

 little, except that they form a wide tractless waste, 

 destitute of every thing that can fit it for the habi- 

 tation of man or beast. 



The soil is as variable as the face of the country. 

 On the coast range of hills there is little to invite 

 the agriculturist, except in some vales 'of no great 

 extent. These hills are, however, admirably 

 adapted for raising herds and flocks, and are at 

 present the feeding grounds of numerous deer, elk, 

 &c., to which the short sweet grass and wild oats 

 that are spread over them, afford a plentiful supply 

 of food. No attempts have been made to cultivate 

 the northern part of this section, nor is it suscep- 

 tible of being the seat of any large agricultural 

 operations. 



The valley of the Sacramento, and that of San 

 Juan, are the most fruitful parts of California, par- 

 ticularly the latter, which is capable of producing 

 wheat, Indian corn, rye, oats, &c., with all the 

 fruits of the temperate and many of the tropical 

 climates. It likewise offers fine pasture-grounds for 

 cattle. This region comprises a level plain, from 

 fifteen to twenty miles in width, extending from 

 the bay of San Francisco, beyond the mission of 

 that name, north and south. This may be termed 

 the garden of California ; but although several 

 small streams and lakes serve to water it, yet in 

 dry seasons or droughts, not only the crops but the 

 herbage also suffers extremely, and the cattle are 

 deprived of food. 



The Sierra affords little scope for cultivation, 

 being much broken, barren, and sandy. It is in 

 places covered with cedar, pine, and oak ; but it 

 offers few inducements to the settler. The great 

 valley of Buena Ventura next succeeds, which, 

 although it offers more prospects of profitable cul- 

 tivation, is by all accounts far inferior to that of 

 San Juan. It lies nearly parallel to the latter, 

 and is watered by the San Joachim river and its 

 branches. 



In this valley the Californian Indians principally 

 dwell. The San Joachim receives its waters from 

 the many streams that issue from the Californian 

 range of mountains. These are well wooded, their 

 base being covered with oaks, to which succeeds 

 the red California cedar (schubertia abertina), 

 and after it, in a still higher region, pines, until 

 the snows are encountered. On the eastern side 

 of this range, there is found very little timber, and 

 in consequence of the want of moisture, trees do 

 not flourish, even on the west side. The inland 

 plain, constituting a large part of Upper California, 

 is, according to all accounts, an arid waste ; the 

 few rivers that exist being periodical, and losing 

 themselves in the sandy soil. 



In climate, California varies as much if not even 

 more than in natural features and soil. On the 

 coast range, it has as high a mean temperature in 

 winter as in summer. The latter is in fact the 

 coldest part of the year, owing to the constant 

 prevalence of the north-west winds, which blow 

 with the regularity of a monsoon, and are exceed- 

 ingly cold, damp, and uncomfortable, rendering fire 

 often necessary for comfort in midsummer. This 



is, however, but seldom resorted to, and many per- 

 sons have informed me that they have suffered 

 more from cold at Monterey, than in places of a 

 much higher latitude. The climate thirty miles 

 from the coast undergoes a great change, and in 

 no part of the world is there to be found a finer or 

 more equable one than in the valley of San Juan. 

 It more resembles that of Andalusia, in Spain, than 

 any other, and none can be more salubrious. The 

 cold winds of the coast have become warmed, and 

 have lost their force and violence, though they 

 retain their freshness and purity. This strip of 

 country is that in which the far-famed missions 

 have been established; and the accounts of these 

 have led many to believe that the whole of Upper 

 California was well adapted for agricultural uses. 

 This is not the case, for the small district already 

 pointed out is the only section of country where 

 these advantages are to be found. This valley 

 extends beyond the pueblo of San Juan, or to the 

 eastward of Monterey: it is of no great extent, 

 being about twenty miles long by twelve wide. 



The Sierra, which separates the valley of San 

 Juan from that of Buena Ventura, is about one 

 thousand five hundred feet high, barren and sandy. 

 Pines cover its summit, and the climate is exceed- 

 ingly dry and arid, though cooled by the fresh 

 wind that passes beyond them. Next comes the 

 central valley of Buena Ventura, which is a con- 

 tinuation of the Sacramento, and through which 

 the San Joachim flows. Being confined within the 

 two ranges of mountains, and not having the same 

 causes operating to modify the temperature as the 

 smaller valley of San Juan, the heats of its sum- 

 mer are oppressive, the thermometer ranging, it is 

 said, higher than within the torrid zone, and the 

 heat continuing without cessation. 



Although the Californian Range is covered with 

 snow in close proximity to this valley, it seems to 

 have but little effect in modifying the climate, 

 which is represented as tropical throughout the 

 year. This valley extends as far south as the San 

 Bernardino Mountain. The residents in California 

 say that they have never known the wind to blow 

 from the north-east within thirty miles of the 

 coast. 



The Sacramento is the largest river in Califor- 

 nia. One of its branches, Destruction river, takes 

 its rise near Mount Shaste, and was examined 

 throughout the whole of its course by our land 

 party, until it joined the Sacramento: the latter is 

 thought by some to pass through the mountains 

 and join Pitt's river. Pitt's river is said to take 

 its rise to the north-east of the Shaste Mountain, 

 and from the information that I received, extends 

 as far as Pitt's Lake, under the forty-second paral- 

 lel. I have reason to doubt whether the length 

 of its course is so great, and believe that the 

 Sacramento has its source in the easterns spurs of 

 the Shaste Mountain. 



The first branch of any size in descending the 

 Sacramento is that called Feather river, which 

 joins it below the Prairie Butes, coming from the 

 north-east. This branch takes its rise in the Cali- 

 fornia Mountains, near their northern end, and has 

 a course of about forty miles. The American 

 river is a small branch that joins the Sacramento 

 at New Helvetia. After receiving this stream, the 

 Sacramento is joined by the San Joachim, which 

 courses from the south, and below their con- 



