156 CALIFORNIA. 



from cold at Monterey, than in places of a much higher latitude. The 

 climate thirty miles from the coast undergoes a great change, and in 

 no part of the world is there to be found a finer or more equable one 

 than in the valley of San Juan. It more resembles that of Andalusia, 

 in Spain, than any other, and none can be more salubrious. The cold 

 winds of the coast have become warmed, and have lost their force and 

 violence, though they retain their freshness and purity. This strip of 

 country is that in which the far-famed missions have been established ; 

 and the accounts of these have led many to believe that the whole of 

 Upper California was well adapted for agricultural uses. This is not 

 the case, for the small district already pointed out is the only section 

 of country where these advantages are to be found. This valley 

 extends beyond the pueblo of San Juan, or to the eastward of Monte- 

 rey : it is of no great extent, being about twenty miles long by twelve 

 wide. 



The Sierra, which separates the valley of San Juan from that of 

 Buena Ventura, is about one thousand five hundred feet high, barren 

 and sandy. Pines cover its summit, and the climate is exceedingly 

 dry and arid, though cooled by the fresh wind that passes beyond 

 them. Next comes the central valley of Buena Ventura, which is a 

 continuation of the Sacramento, and through which the San Joachim 

 flows. Being confined within the two ranges of mountains, and not 

 having the same causes operating to modify the temperature as the 

 smaller valley of San Juan, the heats of its summer are oppressive, 

 the thermometer ranging, it is said, higher than within the torrid zone, 

 and the heat continuing without cessation. 



Although the Californian Range is covered with snow in close 

 proximity to this valley, it seems to have but little effect in modi- 

 fying the climate, which is represented as tropical throughout the 

 year. This valley extends as far south as the San Bernardino Moun- 

 tain. The residents in California say that they have never known the 

 wind to blow from the northeast within thirty miles of the coast. 



This state of things may also prevail in the interior, and will natu- 

 rally prevent the cool stratum of air from descending into the valley, it 

 being -carried to the interior by the prevailing winds from an opposite 

 quarter. 



In ordinary seasons these valleys are well watered by streams from 

 the mountains, which vary very much in size: they are for some part 

 of the year mere brooks, while during the rainy season, from November 

 to February, they become in some cases impassable. The Sacramento 

 is the largest river in California. One of its branches, Destruction 

 river, takes its rise near Mount Shaste, and was examined throughout 



