196 GEOLOGY. 
of their present condition is attributable to the configuration of the regions. East of the Tulare 
Valley we find a lofty chain of snowy ranges, which condense the moisture in the winds from 
the Pacific on their summits, and send numerous streams into the valley for its irrigation. If 
there was a similar high range east of the Desert, it is probable that sufficient water would be, 
in like manner, condensed on its summit, to form streams that would irrigate the Desert, as the 
Tulares are now watered by the streams from the Sierra Nevada. 
