SOCIETY. 413 
plains to Petaluma, Santa Rosa, Healdsburg, Sonoma, Napa, 
Fairfield, Marysville, Sacramento, Stockton, Amador Valley, 
Oakland, San José, etc. 
Sixthly.—She has a climate similar to that of San Francisco, 
where ice never forms and summer clothes are never worn— 
precisely that degree of constant coolness most favorable to 
continuous labor, both mental and physical. 
Seventhly—She has the U. 8. Navy-Yard on Mare Island 
at her doors, and must supply the laborers to do the work 
there. This navy-yard must always be of great importance, 
and the government works alone will build up a considerable 
town. Puget Sound is the only other point on the American 
coast of the Pacific where a navy-yard can be established, and 
a long time may pass before one will be required there. 
Highthly.—There is a possibility that the difficulties in the 
navigation of the Sacramento River, below Sacramento City, 
will make it necessary to connect that place and the valley 
north of it with the deep water, by a railroad to Vallejo. 
It is estimated that forty thousand tons of dirt are carried 
down into the Sacramento River every day from the mines, 
and the effect to fill up the bed of the river is proved by past 
experience. The time must come when goods must be carried 
from the bay to the central and northern mines by land, and 
the sooner the preparations are made for this approaching 
change, the better. That land shipment, when commenced, 
must go through Vallejo. 
Ninthly—In San Francisco great damage is done to the 
wharves by the shipworm; in Vallejo the water is so fresh 
that wharves and boats are secure against that scourge. 
§ 286. Visalia.— Visalia is situated in the “Four Creek 
country,” about fifteen miles northeastward from Tulare Lake. 
The “ Four Creek country” is formed by Cahuilla Creek, which, 
after leaving the Sierra Nevada, spreads out into a number of 
channels, and these again subdivide, and moistening a consider- 
able district of rich soil, render it very productive. Visalia 
has a population of one thousand five hundred, and is the 
