THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA. 



CONTINUED. 



CONFIGURATION OF THE STATE BAY OF SAN FRANCISCO AND 



CITY RIVERS OF CALIFORNIA CHARACTER OF SOIL, ETC. 



RELATIVE STERILITY AND PRODUCTIVENESS CLIMATE DRY 



AND WET SEASONS CAUSES OF CHANGE CLIMATE IN SAN 



FRANCISCO, COAST RANGE VALLEYS AND INTERIOR VALLEY 



AREA OF ARABLE AND GRAZING LAND PRODUCTIONS DIS- 

 COVERY OF GOLD ITS POSITION THE PLACERES WASHING 



DIGGING THE MINES CALCULATIONS AS TO THE YIELD 



OF THE MINES GOLD YIELDED BY CALIFORNIA ITS QUALITY 



QUICKSILVER MINES COMMERCE POPULATION GROWTH 



OF CITIES OLD PRESIDIOS TOWNS LAND TITLES MISSION 



LANDS CONCLUSION. 



The State of California, as at present formed by its constitution, 

 lies chiefly between the Sierra Nevada and the sea. North and 

 south, it embraces about ten degrees of latitude, from 32°, where 

 it touches the peninsula of Lower California, to 42°, where it 

 bounds on Oregon. East and west, from the Sierra Nevada to the 

 sea, it will average, in the central parts, one hundred and fifty miles, 

 and in the northern, two hundred. The whole State is thus, in 

 truth, a single geographical formation or great valley, though com- 

 monly divided into the valleys of San Joaquin and Sacramento — 

 the two great streams which flow from the north and south until 

 they meet near the centre of the State and wend their way to the 

 ocean through the bay of San Francisco. 



This beautiful arm of the ocean, which is pronounced by all geo- 

 graphers to be one of the most wonderful harbors in the world, was 

 discovered about 1768 by a party of Franciscan friars, who be- 

 stowed upon it the name of their patron Saint. Completely land- 

 locked, it is capable of sheltering the most extended commerce. 

 Approached from the sea, a bold outline of coast scenery is pre- 

 sented to the observer. On the south, the bordering mountains 

 descend in narrow ranges, lashed by the surf of the Pacific. On 

 the north, a bluff promontory rises full three thousand feet above 



