GEOGRAPHY OF CALIFORNIA. 17 



first established by the Spaniards, is San Diego, a small town of three hun- 

 dred inhabitants, situated about a mile from the north shore of a bay which 

 communicates with the ocean, in the latitude of 32 degrees 41 minutes. 

 The bay runs about ten miles eastward into the land, being separated from 

 the ocean, in its whole length, by a ridge of sand, and affords entrance to 

 vessels of any size, which may anchor safe from all winds within a mile 

 of the northern shore. The passage leading into it is defended by for- 

 tifications which, if properly armed and manned, might render the harbor 

 completely secure from all attacks by sea. The mission stands about 

 seven miles from the town, in a valley, through which a torrent rushes in 

 the rainy season. About sixty miles farther north-west is San Juan, a small 

 place on an unsafe and inconvenient harbor, in latitude of 33 degrees 27 

 minutes; and somewhat farther in the same direction is San Pedro, on a 

 bay open to the south-west winds, but sheltered from the north-west. The 

 country in the immediate vicinity of these places is sandy and barren, 

 yielding little besides grass for cattle; in the interior, however, on the 

 north-east, is the wide tract already mentioned, extending to Mount San 

 Bernardin, which is said to be of great fertility wherever it is properly 

 irrigated, producing wheat, vines, olives, and fruits of various kinds. In 

 this tract, at the distance of thirty miles north from San Pedro, stands 

 Pueblo de los Angeles, the largest town in California, containing a thou- 

 sand inhabitants ; and near it the mission of San Gabriel, the vineyards 

 of which formerly yielded a large supply of good wine. 



From Port San Pedro the Californian coast runs westward, more than a 

 hundred miles, to Cape Conception, a point situated in latitude of 34 de- 

 grees 22 minutes, as much dreaded by navigators, on account of the 

 violence and frequency of the storms in its vicinity, as Cape Hatteras, 

 near the same parallel on the eastern side of the continent. Opposite this 

 part of the coast are the Islands of Santa Barbara, eight in number, of 

 which four, called Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, Santa Catalina, and San 

 Clemente, contain from twenty to fifty square miles of surface each ; the 

 others being mere rocks. Between the Island of Santa Cruz and the 

 main land on the north is the channel of Santa Barbara, on the north 

 side of which, the town, fort, and mission of Santa Barbara are situated, 

 in a sandy plain, stretching from the coast to the Santa Barbara range of 

 mountains. The harbor is an open roadstead, sheltered from the north 

 and west winds, which there prevail from November to March, but 

 affording no protection against the south-westerly storms, which are so vio- 

 lent and frequent during the remainder of the year. 



At the distance of a hundred miles north of Cape Conception, the Santa 

 Barbara Mountains end, as already said, in a point called the Cape of 

 Pines, (Punta de Pinos,) in latitude of 36 degrees 37 minutes; between 

 which and another point, twenty-four miles farther north, called Cape 

 New Year, (Punta de Nuevo Ano,) is included the extensive Bay of Mon- 

 terey. This bay lies in an indentation of the coast, almost semi-circular; 

 its southernmost part is, however, separated from the ocean by the point 

 of land ending at the Cape of Pines, and thus forms a cove, near the 

 southernmost part of which stands the town of Monterey, or San Carlos 

 de Monterey, the seat of government of California. The town is a 

 wretched collection of mud-built houses, containing about two hundred 

 inhabitants; the castle, as it is termed, and the fort on the Cape of Pines, 

 are merely mud walls, behind which are a few old guns, all ineffective. 

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