164 CALIFORNIA. 



is -undergoing such frequent changes, that it is difficult to under- 

 stand or to describe them. 



With California is associated the idea of a fine climate, and a rich 

 and productive soil. This, at least, was the idea with which I 

 entered its far-famed port; but I soon found, from the reports of the 

 officers, after the trial they had had of it during the months of 

 August and September, that their experience altogether contra- 

 dicted the received opinion upon the first mentioned point. Many 

 of them compared its climate to that of Orange Harbour, at Cape 

 Horn, with its cold blustering winds and cloudy skies. This kind 

 of weather prevails during the greater part of the year, and the 

 comparison is literally true in relation to one portion of California, — 

 the sea-coast. 



There is, perhaps, no other country where there is such a diversity 

 of features, soil, and climate, as California. The surface exhibits the 

 varieties of lofty ranges of mountains, confined valleys, and extensive 

 plains. On the coast, a range of high land extends in length from 

 Cape Mendocina to latitude 32° N., and in breadth into the interior 

 from ten to twenty miles. 



The valley of San Juan, of no great extent, lies between these hills 

 and the Sierra, which is a low range of mountains. East of the Sierra 

 is the broad valley of the Sacramento, which is prolonged to the south 

 in that of Buena Ventura, as far as Mount San Bernardino, under the 

 thirty-fourth parallel. Beyond this valley is the Californian Range, 

 which is a continuation of the Cascade Range of Oregon, and whose 

 southern summits are capped with snow. This range gradually de- 

 creases in height, until it declines into hills of moderate elevation. 

 To the east of the Californian Mountains are the vast sandy plains, 

 of which we know but little, except that they form a wide trackless 

 waste, destitute of every thing that can fit it for the habitation of man 

 or beast. 



The soil is as variable as the face of the country. On the coast 

 range of hills there is little to invite the agriculturist, except in some 

 vales, of no great extent. These hills are, however, admirably 

 adapted for raising herds and flocks, and are at present the feeding- 

 grounds of numerous deer, elk, &c, to which the short sweet grass 

 and wild oats that are spread over them, afford a plentiful supply of 

 food. No attempts have been made to cultivate the northern part of 

 this section, nor is it susceptible of being the seat of any large agri- 

 cultural operations. 



