242 COUNTRY BELOW THE SACRAMENTO. 



climate, productions, ami miueral lesouices of tliis interesting country , 

 and in so doing, I would first dra.v a succinct view of the territory lying 

 between the Rio Sacramento and Oregon. 



Heie we find the most furbidding aspect, with one exception, of any in 

 Western California. The soil is generally very dry and barren, and the 

 face of the country broken and hilly. The streams of water (as in the 

 Eastera Division) frequently sink and become lost in the sand, or force 

 themselves into the Ocean and parent streams by percolation or subterraiie- 

 an passages. 



In many places is presented a surface of white sun-baked clay, entirely 

 destitute of vegetation ; and in others, wide spreads of sand, alike denuded ; 

 and yet again iron-bound superfices of igneous rock. 



Now and then groves of pines or firs spread their broad branches as it 

 were to cover the nakedness of nature ; while here and there a valley of 

 greater or less extent smiles amid tlie surrounding desolation. 



All the various streams are skirted with bottoms of arable soil, ofttimes 

 not only large but very fertile, though perhaps unadapted to cultivation, on 

 account of their dryness, without a resort to irrigation. 



Smith's river pursues its way, for forty or fifty miles, through a wide 

 bottom of rich soil, most admirably suited for agricultural purposes were it 

 not for its innate aridity ;— however, during the summer season, it is, to a 

 limited extent, watered from nightly dews, which enable it to sustain a 

 luxuriant vegetation. 



Not one foui-th part of the northwestern portion of this section is fit for 

 tillage. That part contiguous to the sea-coast is sandy and far less broken 

 than those section's less interior. 



The Tlam:ith Mountains, pursuing a west-southwest course from Oregon, 

 strike the coast near lat. 41° north. This range has several lofty peaks 

 covered with perpetual snow, and shoots its collateral emmences far into the 

 adjacent prairies. 



There is one feasible pass through this chain a few miles inland from the 

 coast, that serves well for tlis purpose of intercommunication with Oregon. 

 The less elevated parts of these mountains are frequently covered with 

 groves of small timber and openings of grass suit;ible for pasturage, while 

 intermingled with them are occasional valleys and prairillons of diniinutive 

 space, favorable to the growth of grain and vegetables. The same may bt 

 said in reference to the California chain for its whole extent, especially in 

 the vicinity of the prairie. 



Following tlie course of this latter ridge from north to south, we find 

 upon both sides a reach of very broken and highly turaulous landscape, 

 some twenty or thirty miles broad. 



Near the head-waters of the Sacramento, these lands are well watered 

 led possess a general character for fertility, producing a variety of grass, 

 with shrubs and a few scattering trees. Below, however, they are more 

 sterile, owing to the deficiency of water ; but yet they afford numerous invit- 

 ing spots. 



A considerable extent of country, south of tlie South Fork of the river 

 above named, is arid and sterile, and has but few streams of water. It sus- 

 tains, however, among its hills and in its valleys, a sparse vegetation that 



