SAN DIEGO BAY. 85 
) to the nearest seaport—San Pedro. But if a trans-conti- 
-nental railway be built by the Gila route, it is highly pro- 
_bable that Warner’s Pass would be selected. 
Leaving the summit of Warner’s Pass at the Felipe Ranche, 
we descend towards the Pacific coast through lovely valleys, 
in which large herds of cattle and horses graze throughout 
the year. Here, on vast estates held under Spanish titles, 
live the native Californians—wealthy in lands and cattle, 
-unprogressive, and, until lately, much opposed to the 
American occupancy. | 
San Diego Bay has acquired great prominence in view of 
the construction of a southern railroad to the Pacific Ocean ; 
but its few intelligent Americans are too sanguine of its early 
rise to grandeur and wealth. San Francisco, as the great 
commercial metropolis of the Pacific States, must be for along 
time the great terminus of Pacific railways. 
The Bay of San Diego is a perfect place of safety for 
vessels, and possesses an advantage over San Francisco Bay m 
that it is easy of access from the sea. Its entrance is protected 
from the strong westerly winds by a bold promontory, on 
which stands the lighthouse. It is not obstructed by a bar ; 
_ it is but three-eighths of a mile wide, and never has less than 
five fathoms of water at low tide. In 1865, the steamer 
Vanderbilt, drawing 223 feet, and loaded with coals, steamed 
Into the bay, and discharged at the plaza. The bay has 
plenty of water, and good anchorage for vessels of the heaviest 
draught, and, if needed, could shelter the whole navy of the 
United States. The mean tides are 6% feet, and the highest 
ever known, 12 feet. (See plan of harbour facing p- 134.) 
San Diego, or “ Old Town,” as it is familiarly called, has a 
population of about five hundred souls, mostly natives, and 
lies at the northern end of the bay, just below the mouth 
