



6 



THE AURIFEROUS GRAVELS OF THE SIERRA NEVADA. 





of the Coast Ranges as well as the lines of drainage have a corresponding 

 direction. The Santa Inez Mountains rise here boldly from the coast to the 

 height of 4,000 feet, while to the north of this range and parallel with it 

 runs the river of the same name. North of this, again, we have the broad 

 chain of the San Rafael Mountains, which connects at its eastern end with 

 the Sierra Nevada. The Santa Maria, or Cuyama, River, w T hose course is in 

 general near the 35th parallel, forms the boundary between the east and 

 west and the northwest and southeast trending features of the Coast Ranges. 

 The east and w^est trend of the Santa Inez Ran^e is continued through 

 Ventura into Los Angeles County in the Sierra de San Fernando, and parallel 

 with this latter, in close proximity to the coast, and on the 34th parallel is 

 the Sierra de Santa Monica. Their eastern terminations are lost in the great 

 mass of mountains which, with a southeast trend, extend on through the 

 southern portion of California, and which are known by various names in 

 their various subdivisions, as the San Gabriel, the San Bernardino, and the 

 San Jacinto ranges. 



North of the Bay of San Francisco, we find as far as Clear Lake, in the 

 parallel of 39°, a general parallelism of the topographical features with the 

 trend of the coast, the drainage being chiefly in a southeastern direction 

 into the Ray of San Pablo. The ranges are much broken, however, in this 

 portion, Napa Valley being the only depression of considerable length ex- 

 tending parallel with the coast. North of Clear Lake there is one pretty 

 well marked dominating ridge, which holds a general parallelism with the 

 coast, trending with it more to the northward ; and, after passing the parallel 

 of 40°, actually bending round a little to the east of north, as does the coast 

 between Cape Mendocino and Crescent City. The drainage, however, from 

 the main divide is in the direction of parallel lines having exactly the same 

 trend as that portion of the coast between Punta Arena and Cape Mendocino. 

 Eel River, a little over a hundred miles in length, is the principal one of the 

 streams. A notice of the character of the drainage of the Coast Ranges as 

 related to the Great Valley will be better introduced after a sketch of the 

 topography of the other great system of mountains on the eastern side of 



i 



that valley. 



The unity of the Sierra Nevada is at once apparent in the single name which 

 it bears, in marked contrast with the Coast Ranges. No one has ever thought 



O o 



of dividing the Sierra into groups with different names ; while on the other 



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