MISSION OF SAN FERNANDO—PALM TREES. 
75 
of a large fountain, with a circular basin ten feet or more in diameter, was directly in front of the 
main entrance, and gave an indication of the splendor of the establishment in former days. 1 I 
was surprised to find the palm growing so far north, (lat. 34° 20',) and surrounded also by 
such a variety of tropical fruits. 2 
The grape is cultivated here, and we purchased a quantity of a very pleasant red wine, simi¬ 
lar to claret. Several men were employed in filling a large still with the fermented pulp and 
skins of grapes, from which the juice had been pressed, with the intention of distilling brandy 
(agua diente) from it. 
Herds of cattle were seen on parts of the broad plain, feeding on dried grass or the burrs of 
the California clover, which covers the ground in the latter part of summer when all the grass 
has disappeared. This plain doubtless presents a beautifully green surface in the winter and 
early summer when watered by the rains. From the Mission, we passed directly across the 
plain towards a low range of hills which forms the boundary between it and the plain on which 
Los Angeles is built. The distance across the plain is about ten miles, and the road was bor¬ 
dered in some places by a low growth of shrubbery and cactacete, which gave a peculiar aspect 
to the country, and reminded some of the party of Mexican landscapes. The distant ranges of 
mountains had a peculiar barren look, and in color were of various shades of brown, blue, and 
purple. When we reached the base of the hills, we crossed a running stream, bordered by grass, 
which we afterwards found to he the Los Angeles river, and then the ascent of the hills imme¬ 
diately commenced. 
Range of sandstone hills, between San Fernando and Los Angeles. —This range appeared to 
extend nearly east and west, bounding the San Fernando plain on the south, and trending par¬ 
allel with the Susannah range on the north side. Like that range, this seemed formed of sedi¬ 
mentary strata, but they were not so well exposed ; and we travelled in such haste that few 
observations on them were made. 
Towards the summit, and near the road-side, I found an outcrop of erupted rock, which was 
much obscured by decomposition, but showed a globular character, the bank being filled with 
balls of various sizes, from which successive crusts of the decaying rock were scaling off. It 
had a dark color, and contained considerable oxyde of iron, indicated by the dark stains. This 
intrusive rock is represented on the general geological map, but subsequent observations will 
doubtless add many important facts to the now limited knowledge of the locality. 
1 The Mission of San Fernando was founded September 8, 1797, under the name of Mission de San Fernando Rey de Espaha. 
Upwards of five hundred Indians have been attached to this Mission. In 1838 it could count fourteen thousand cattle, five 
thousand horses, and seven thousand sheep. Nearly eight thousand fanegas of grain have been harvested and two hundred 
barrels of wine and brandy in a year.— De Mofras , p. 359. 
3 Baron Von Humboldt makes the following observations on the geographical limits of palms : 1 ‘ When we consider the 
extreme geographical, and consequently, also the climatic limits of palms at spots which are but little elevated above the 
level of the sea, we find that some forms (the date palm, Chamcsrops humilis, Ch. palmetto , and Areca sapida, of New Zealand,) 
advance far within the temperate zone of both hemispheres to districts where the mean annual temperature scarcely reaches 
from 57° to 60° Fahrenheit. If we form a progressive scale of cultivated plants in accordance with the different degrees 
of heat they require, and begin with the maximum, we have cacao, indigo, bananas, coffee, cotton, date palms, orange and 
lemon trees, olives, Spanish chestnuts, and vines. In Europe, date palms, together with a Chamserops humilis grow in the 
parallels of 43J° and 44°—as, for instance, on the Genoese Rivera del Porrente, near Bordighera, between Monaco aud San 
Stefano, where there is a palm grove numbering more than four thousand trees; also in Dalmatia, near Sapalatro. It is 
remarkable that the Chamserops humilis is of frequent occurrence in the neighborhood of Nice and in Sardinia, whilst it is 
not found in the island of Corsica, lying between the two. In the new continent, the Chamserops palmetto, which is some¬ 
times more than forty feet high, does not advance further north than 34° ; a circumstance that may be explained by the 
inflection of the isothermal lines. In the southern hemisphere, Robert Brown found that palms, of which there are only 
very few (six or seven) species, advance as far as 34° in New Holland ; while Sir Joseph Banks saw an Areca in New Zealand 
as far as 38°.”— Humboldt’s Views of Nature, Bohn’ s' edition. London, 1850, pp. 297-298. 
