TR A VELS IN 
THE CALIFORNIA S. 
327 
by extensive circular groves, connected with larger forests by 
a thin fringe of trees—that the valley presents the appearance 
of a vast series of plains of every conceivable area and shape, 
from the little wood-bound plantation, to the township, the coun¬ 
ty, and the state. Over this immense plain rove innumerable 
bands of wild horses, mules, elk, deer, grisly bears and other 
animals. The portion of the valley within twenty miles of the 
river is wholly uninhabited. The Indians do not feel disposed 
to live there ; and the whites have plenty of room on the coast. 
There are large tracts of excellent tillage lands on the banks 
of the San Joaquim, and in the valleys of several beautiful 
tributaries coming into it from the eastern mountains ; particu¬ 
larly in that of the Merced. But, generally, the valley of the 
San Joaquim will be found unsuitable for cultivation. Its soil is 
manifestly of volcanic formation, and filled with elements 
unfriendly to vegetation. On many extensive tracts the mu¬ 
riate of soda covers the ground like frost, and destroys, with 
equal certainty, every green thing ; while other tracts, larger 
still, abound in asphaltum, which renders the soil too compact 
for tillage. These peculiarities, however, attach only to the 
plains. The uneven lands of the great valley, and of the 
smaller ones of the tributaries, and, indeed, all the swells, 
hills, and vales, that lie about the two ranges which bound 
the valley on the east and west, are sufficiently freed from 
these destructive ingredients by the wintry rains which wash 
them down to the plains below. The face of the country 
among these highlands is very beautiful, the soil rich and 
heavily timbered ; and above them rise the mountains bearing 
on their sides forests of red cedar trees, from one to twelve feet 
in diameter and of proportional height. These grow to the 
northward of the Latitude of San Antonio. Thence south¬ 
ward flourishes a species of white pine, of larger girth, loftier, 
and of finer grain, than can be found in the States. But of 
the central and flat portions of the valley I cannot speak so 
well. It contains indeed every variety of soil—as tracts of 
loose sand, hard-pan, gravel, rich loam, and ponds of salt. 
