CALIFORNIA. 



The name California was first assigned, by the Spaniards, in 1536, to 

 the great peninsula which extends on the western side of North America, 

 from the 32d degree of latitude, southwardly, to and within the limits of 

 the torrid zone; and it was afterwards made to comprehend the whole 

 division of the continent north-west of Mexico, just as that of Florida 

 was applied to the opposite portion on the Atlantic side. At the present 

 day, California is usually considered as including the peninsula, and the 

 territory extending from it, on the Pacific, northward, as far as the limits 

 of Oregon, or the country of the Columbia River ; Cape Mendocino, in 

 the latitude of 40 degrees 19 minutes, being assumed as the point of 

 separation of the two coasts. The Mexican government, however, re- 

 gards the 42d parallel of latitude as the northern limit of California, 

 agreeably to the treaty concluded between that republic and the United 

 States of America in 1828. 



California is naturally divided into two portions — the peninsular, called 

 Old or Lower California — and the continental, or New, or Upper Califor- 

 nia, the line of separation between which runs nearly along the 32d 

 parallel of latitude, from the head or northern extremity of the Californian 

 Gulf, westward to the Pacific. 



The Gulf of California will be first considered. This Gulf, called by 

 the Spaniards the Sea of Cortes, but more commonly the Vermilion Sea, 

 (Mar Vermejo,) is a great arm of the Pacific, which joins that ocean 

 under the 23d parallel of latitude, and thence extends north-eastward, be- 

 tween the American continent on the east and the Californian peninsula on 

 the west, to its head or termination, near the 32d parallel, where it receives 

 the waters of the Colorado and Gila Rivers. Its length is about seven 

 hundred miles ; its breadth, at its junction with the Pacific, is one hundred 

 miles : farther north, it is somewhat wider, and, still farther, its shores 

 gradually approach each other, until they become the banks of the Colo- 

 rado. It contains many islands, of which the largest are Carmen, near 

 the 25th degree of latitude, Tiburon and Santa Ines, near the 29th, and 

 some others at the northern extremity. The western or peninsular coasts 

 of the gulf are high, steep, and rocky, offering very few places of security 

 for vessels; and not a single stream which deserves the name of a river 

 enters it on that side. The eastern or continental shores are generally 

 low, and the sea in their vicinity is so shallow as to render the navigation 

 along them dangerous. 



The peninsular coast of the gulf has long been celebrated for the great 

 size and beauty of the pearls contained in the oysters which abound in 

 the sea on that side ; and the search for those precious stones has always 

 formed the principal employment of people of civilized nations in that 

 quarter. The pearls are procured, with much danger and difficulty, by 



