216 



GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 



adj 



has 



-hi 



channels, and to this end the banks have been raised by levees. There 

 are many channels, usuaUy dry, which lead out into the valley, par- 



The flood waters of these channels 



om 



areas 



can not reach the main river at all and therefore spread out over the 

 lowlands on either side, to be eventually dissipated for the most part 

 by evaporation. This accounts ft 

 lands that border the river. 



Leaving Sacramento the train crosses Sacramento River on a steel 

 bridge and runs across flats which he almost at tide level but which, 

 being protected from inundation by levees, are cuUivated as market 

 gardens and for hay or grain. Farther west the land becomes marshy 



;h of tule (pronounced too'ly), a 



grow 



bulrush {Scirpus lacusiru or caVifi 



erass 



track 



marshes extend for miles on both sides of the 



groun 



grass used lor the grazm„ 



and sheep. Beyond this country the train reaches slightly higher 

 and better-drained lands, on which Swingle, a minor station, is sur- 

 rounded by hay meadows and corn fields. 



At Davis the Shasta and Overland routes join. The country in 

 this vicinity is a smooth plain, near tidewater level, but nevertheless 



high enough to provide drainage. With its rich 

 fields of grain and orchards, it has a distinctlv nros- 

 perous look. Beyond Davis 

 .. become more prominent, especially to the rl^dit, 



Davis. 



Elevation 42 feet, 

 Population 750.* 

 Omaha 1.706 mill 



the Coast Ranges ^ 



them 



more 



'6 



coimnoii 



Valley and live oaks are 



o 



agricultural town in Solano County. Beyond it the 



loom 



Dixon. 



Elevation 61 feet, 

 Omaha l.n4 mil* 



Elmira (elevation 79 feet), a junction whence a 



is next passed. 



Elmira 



umsey 



foothills of tho rincicf Ran<^e 



through one of which the raiboad passes 



first a bare ridg 



& 



^^ Along the Pacific coast, from the 

 -vicinity of Santa Barbara on the south to 

 Humboldt County on the nordi, rise the 

 Coast Ranges, di\'iding the Great Valley 

 of California from 



the 



ocean. These 



ranges are broken by the €__. ^ ^„^ „ 



-fthirh the combined Sacramento and San 

 Joaquin rivers find outlet into the Bay of 

 Saii Francisco. The Coast Ranges are 



geologically the most recent of the great 

 structural features of the State! They 

 are built up largely of folded and crushed 

 Cretaceous, Jurassic, and Tertiary sedi- 

 mentarj' rocks, which are in places broken 

 through by andesitic and basaltic lavas 

 and by oMer igneous rocks (diabase and 

 other dark, heavy rocks, in part altered 

 to serpentine). 



