International Excursion in America. 
271 
striking indeed to a visitor—especially to a European visitor. 
Everything is new and of the best, everyone is bright, cheerful and 
confident. 
On September 6th the last stage of the journey to San 
Francisco (445 miles) was entered upon. The railroad runs over 
the Siskiyou mountains with the magnificent snow-covered Mount 
Shasta constantly visible to the left. The highest altitude reached 
by the train is the Siskiyou tunnel at 4,130 feet. Very much the 
same vegetation is passed through as on the journey to Crater 
Lake—first grassland, chaparral and oak, the oak trees, as through¬ 
out California, often scattered singly in the dry grassland; then 
Pinus pondevosa followed by Psendotsuga at the higher levels. After 
the first ridge is passed a very dry valley cut off from the mountain 
moisture is entered. Here there is dry grassland with no trees. 
The train again ascends to 3,900 feet, passing through fine forest 
with many species of pine. Then begins the final descent into the 
Californian plains, the zones of vegetation being passed through in 
the inverse order. About dusk we reached Shasta springs and soon 
afterwards caught our last glimpse of the magnificent snow-covered 
summit of Mount Shasta. 
California and the Sierra Nevada. 
Early in the morning of September 7th we awoke to find our¬ 
selves travelling along the shores of San Francisco Bay with 
extensive salt marshes skirting the coast. After a breakfast and a 
brief stay at Oakland Station we started on the journey to the 
Yosemite valley, across the dry and exceedingly hot Californian 
plains, which are largely quite treeless, except along the streams. 
As the foothills of the Sierras are approached scattered trees of 
Quercus lobata appear in the grasslands and arable fields. This is a 
big graceful white oak 50 or 60 feet high. At Merced we changed 
onto the Yosemite Valley Railroad and soon began the ascent of the 
Merced valley. Quercus lobata is here replaced by the smaller “ blue ” 
oak, Q. Douglasii , and more or less scattered scrub begins to appear 
on the hillsides—at first Adenostoma fasciculatum , the “ chamisal,” 
with short weak needle-shaped leaves, presenting in mass a dingy 
green-brown colour. Adenostoma often forms pure sheets,alternating 
with dry grassland containing various species of A vena, with Bvomus , 
Poa t etc. Along the streamside are willows, Populus trichocarpa , 
Fraxinus, and the round-leaved Cercis occidentalis. The chamisal 
soon becomes mixed with other shrubs, especially species of Arcto- 
staphylos (“ manzanita ”)—a genus exceedingly well represented in 
