TOPOGRAPHICAL. —THE COAST RANGES. 5 
is partly occupied by large tule-covered islands. The passage from the Bay 
of San Francisco out into the Pacific — the so-called “Golden Gate” — cuts 
directly across the ranges, has high precipitous sides, and is, in its narrowest 
part, only about a mile wide. Through this contracted passage escapes the 
drainage of an area of 57,200 square miles.* 
South of the Bay of San Francisco the course of the Salinas River, which 
is about 150 miles in length, and which empties into the Bay of Monterey, 
indicates a pretty well marked longitudinal division of the Coast Ranges for 
that distance, its course being almost exactly parallel with that of the coast 
itself. A subdivision of the region west of the Salinas is indicated by the 
branches of that river, which all flow for a considerable distance parallel with 
the range, and then turn at right angles and cross it. This is particularly 
well marked in the case of the Nacimiento River, as well as in that of the 
San Antonio. Opposite the head of the Nacimiento rises the Sur, and oppo- 
site the San Antonio, the Carmelo, the last-named emptying into the Bay of 
Monterey, and the Sur directly into the Pacific. East of the Salinas River, 
and parallel with it, is the San Benito, which empties into the Pajaro, the 
latter occupying a marked transverse break in the ranges opposite the Bay 
of Monterey, but which, as already hinted, does not extend quite across 
them. Thus we have four pretty well marked divisions of the Coast Ranges 
in this region, between the parallels of 35° and 37°, each of which is suffi- 
ciently distinct to have received a special appellation; and in the region 
south of the Bay of San Francisco the names, having been given by the 
Spanish-Mexican inhabitants, are in almost all cases those of Saints. Nearest 
the coast, and west of the Carmelo and the Nacimiento rivers, is the Santa 
Lucia Range; next in order, and between the Carmelo and the Salinas, are 
the Palo Escrito Hills; then, next east of the Salinas, and between that and 
the San Benito, is the Gavilan Range, while on the east of the San Benito, 
and forming the interior of the frame of the Great Valley, is a wide belt of 
irregular elevations, considered by us as belonging to the Monte Diablo Group. 
The total breadth of the Coast Ranges in this portion is about seventy miles, 
and the elevation of the different sub-ranges is pretty uniform, being in their 
culminating points from 4,000 to 6,000 feet above the sea-level. 
As in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties, between the parallels of 34° 
and 35°, the coast trends almost exactly east and west, so here the divisions 
* As computed by the United States Irrigation Commissioners on the basis of the State Geological 
Survey Maps. 
