CHOROGRAPHY. 9 
The harbor of Vallejo is excellent, lying between Mare Island 
and the mainland. It is half a mile wide, by three miles long, 
with four fathoms of water at low tide, excellent holding- 
ground, and perfect protection against all winds. 
The bay of San Diego is twelve miles long, from one to two 
miles wide, and crescent-shaped, running from the entrance, 
and then turning to the southeastward. A channel, thirty 
feet deep and half a mile wide, extends more than half the 
length of the bay from the entrance. The holding-ground is 
good; the protection from the winds perfect. There is no 
difficulty in entering at any time, but it is not safe for sailing- 
vessels to go out during gales from the southeast. 
In latitude 34° 38’, thirty-five miles southeastward from Los 
Angeles, is a land-locked estuary about eight miles long and 
from half a mile toa mile wide. It has not been surveyed, and 
its value for commerce’is not known, but there has been some 
talk lately of using it as a port for some of the adjacent towns. 
The entrance is not more than ten feet deep, and probably not 
so deep as that. 
Of the open harbors, that of Crescent City is the most 
northern, in latitude 41° 44’. It lies on the southern side of a 
rocky point that juts out about half a mile in a westward 
direction, at right angles to the general line of the coast. The 
harbor is small and shallow, with a bottom of sand and rocks. 
Vessels drawing twelve feet of water lie nearly half a mile 
from the shore. The harbor is safe while the wind blows 
from the north and northwest, but very dangerous when it 
blows from the southward. The harbor might be made much 
more safe by a breakwater, at a cost of one or two millions 
of dollars, but the trade of the place would never justify such 
an expenditure. ; 
Trinidad, in 41° 03’, is a very small harbor, open to the 
south, with deep water and excellent holding-ground. 
Bodega Bay, in 38° 18’, has nine feet of water, and opens 
to the southward, so that the auchorage is secure only while 
the wind blows from,the north. Tomales Bay, just opposite, 
2 
