260 Notes on Upper California. 



as well as a large part of the annular plain. A hill of trachytic 



blocks near the eastern entrance may have been one of the later 

 points of eruption. As the cone is partly buried in the river de- 

 tritus, we evidently see only a portion of its original elevation, 

 and it may be but a very small portion. 



Upon the lower slopes of the Bute sixty to one hundred feet 

 above the plain, we found again siliceous pebbles like those of the 

 upper prairie, and these pebbles were the only traces of the ter- 

 race that were distinguished. They consisted of jasper and 

 quartz, and had evidently originated from the talcose rock forma- 

 tion. There were also some of basalt. 



The prairie before reaching the Bute consisted of loose alluvial 

 soil, of a dark color, much cracked ; for some distance it broke 

 through at every step, and it was much like travelling over crust- 

 ed snow. The whole country, we were told, was flooded during 

 the winter freshets, and the deer and antelope of the plains then 

 take to the Bute hills. 



October 17, — The flat prairie south appeared to be less pro- 

 ductive than on the preceding day, the grass being in strag- 

 gling tufts, or covering the surface with a light furze. For 

 twenty miles we found no water, and finally reached a line ol 

 trees that had long before been pointed out to us as the shore 

 growth of Feather river. After following down the stream about 

 four miles we encamped near its mouth in a grove of oaks. The 

 river was a slow stream about thirty yards wide, with alluvial 

 banks twenty feet high. An antelope was shot during the day, 

 and a fat cow in the evening. Elk, deer and antelope were seen 

 in great numbers. 



October 18. — Forded Feather river in three to four feet water. 

 Six hours of hot travelling over a flat prairie brought us to Sut- 

 ter's settlement on the Sacramento. The soil was less fertile than 

 much that we had passed, and for the last two and a half miles 

 the surface was dry and gravelly or sandy. Other portions how- 

 ever were more productive. 



A portion of the party took the river for the bay of San Fran- 

 cisco. At the straits of Caquines, bluffs of soft sandstone alter- 

 nating with some clayey layers, formed the shores. The sand- 

 stone was neatly stratified in layers from four feet to one inch 

 thick, and had a dip of 50° to 70° to the west and southwest, in 

 some places it was vertical ; and within two hundred yards it 

 changed to an inclination of 35° or 40°. The faults were numer- 

 ous. Although no fossils were observed, other characters lead me 

 to refer it to the same formation with the Astoria sandstone, which 

 Mr. Conrad has shown from the fossils to pertain to the miocene 

 period. On a small island near these straits, gypsum is found in 

 thick seams. 



