COAST RANGE VALLEYS AND INTERIOR VALLEY. 



385 



and these phenomena are of daily occurrence, with few exceptions, 

 throughout the dry season. 



" The cold winds and fogs render the climate at San Francisco, 

 and all along the coast of California, except the extreme southern 

 portion of it, probably more uncomfortable, to those not accustomed 

 to it, in summer than in winter. 



" A few miles inland, where the heat of the sun modifies and soft- 

 ens the wind from the ocean, the climate is moderate and delightful. 

 The heat in the middle of the day is not so great as to retard labor, 

 or to render exercise in the open air uncomfortable. The nights are 

 cool and pleasant. This description of climate prevails in all the 

 valleys along the coast-range, and extends throughout the country, 

 north and south, as far eastward as the valley of the Sacramento 

 and San Joaquin. In this vast plain the sea breeze loses its in- 

 fluence, and the degree of heat in the middle of the day, during the 

 summer months, is much greater than is known on the Atlantic coast 

 in the same latitudes. It is dry, however, and probably not more 

 oppressive. On the foot-hills of the Sierra Nevada, and especially 

 in the deep ravines of the streams, the thermometer frequently ranges 

 from 110° to 115° in the shade, during three or four hours of the 

 day, from eleven until three o'clock. In the evening, as the sun 

 declines, the radiation of heat ceases. The cool, dry atmosphere 

 from the mountains spreads over the whole country, and renders the 

 nights fresh and invigorating. *********** 



" These variations in the climate of California account for the dif- 

 ferent conflicting opinions and statements respecting it. A stran- 

 ger arriving at San Francisco in summer, is annoyed by the cold 

 winds and fogs, and pronounces the climate intolerable. A few 

 months will modify if not banish his dislike, and he will not fail to 

 appreciate the beneficial effects of a cool, bracing atmosphere. 

 Those who approach California overland, through the passes of the 

 mountains, find the heat of summer, in the middle of the day, greater 

 than they have been accustomed to, and therefore many complain of it. 



" Those who take up their residence in the valleys which are situa- 

 ted between the great plain of the Sacramento and San Joaquin and 

 the coast range of hills, find the climate, especially in the dry sea- 

 son, as healthful and pleasant as it is possible for any climate to be 

 which possesses sufficient heat to mature the cereal grains and edi- 

 ble raots of the temperate zone." 1 



1 See appendix at end of vol. for Meteorological Observations in California. 



