CONTENTS 
CHAPTER I. 
Physical Geography. 
Extent of survey.—Of the coast mountains.—Erroneous notions of.—Parallel ranges.—Number of and geographical posi¬ 
tion.—Northern extension.—Depression across the line of strike at San Francisco.—Monte Diablo range.—Effect of the 
topography on commercial destiny.—Absence of navigable rivers.—Flow of the waters.-—Outline of topography of the 
State in the south.—Climate independent of other lands.—Effect of mountains.—No distinct winter season.—Rainy 
season.—Fall of rain.—Drought.—Earthquake movements, frequency of.—Elevation of coast range.—Geological period 
. of.—Igneous rocks.—Different points of elevation.—Depression of fissures of the strata.—Resemblance of the orography 
to Mediterranean Europe.—Paleozoic strata not discovered.—Of- the miocene period on the Pacific.—Upheaval of the 
Sierra Nevada.—Probable effect upon the level of the Great Basin.—Absence of polar drift.—Of the quarternary period.— 
Of the coast line of California. 
CHAPTER II. 
Geology of the Coast Ranges. 
Two different axes in.—Occasional blending of volcanic rocks.—Prevalence of felspathic rocks.—Age of the granites.— 
Different strike of granitic and volcanic rocks.—Uniformity of elevation and deposit.—Climatic conditions of the miocene 
period.—Mode of elevation of the coast range.—Grouping of the ranges.—Enumeration of the ranges, their direction 
and axial rock.—Extension of the ranges south into the sea —Reappearance in the Channel islands.—Examination of 
the coast soundings.—Connection of the fossils of the various strata with each other.—Dissimilarity to European tertiaries 
of the miocene age not necessarily coeval in distant oceans.—Relation in fauna of the several beds of southern California.— 
Evidences of marine life and deposits.—Difficulty of reducing them to analogous Atlantic shore deposits.—Slight or 
doubtful development of palaeozoic beds south of 37° north latitude. 
CHAPTER III. 
Santa Clara valley and Pajaro River valley. 
Position and boundaries of the Santa Clara valley.—Structure of the hills bounding the sides of the valley.—Subsoil and 
< strata of the valley.—Artesian wells in.—Depth of the quarternary clays.—Climate and productions.—Fruit orchards.— 
Cereals.—Productiveness of the soil.—Cinnabar mine of New Almaden.—Position of the mine, village, and hacienda.— 
Geological relations of the ore.—Method of mining.—Quantity extracted.—Operations at the hacienda furnaces.—Mode 
of charging.—Unhealthiness of the operation arising chiefly from unskilfulness in the conducting of the processes.— 
Recommendations for remedying it.—Value of the shipments.—Pajaro valley.—Extent and character.—Geological struc¬ 
ture.—San Bonito river, terraces upon. 
CHAPTER IV. 
Salinas River valley. 
Extent and position of the valley.—Gradual slope.—Character of the river.—Non-navigability.—Geological character of 
the valley.—Alluvial plain, with terraces or flats.—Natural vegetation and productiveness of.-—Westerly winds in the 
south of the valley.—Effect upon the climate.—The Gavilan hills.—Structure and disposition.—Point Pinos range.— 
Intrusion of trap through the sandstone.—Met amorphic effects produced in.—Sandstones of the San Antonio hills.— 
Structure and fossils of.—Recapitulation and observations upon the geology. 
