MONTE DIABLO—INFLUENCE OF SURFACE ON COMMERCE. 
17 
the prominent hill forming its northern limit, and presenting a beautiful picture to the southern 
shores of Suisun bay—this hill, nearly fifty-five miles inland, can be seen distinctly at sea, 
from its great elevation above the low land (3,800 feet.) From the height to which, by its 
upheaval, the sedimentary strata have been raised, it has impressed the whole district more 
than any other hill range. Though not a continuous range, yet it has its parallelism well 
defined, and its hills form larger masses than those of the previously described ranges ; it also 
passes southeast, and in its course are found the Santa Ana hills and Pacheco’s Peak ; and the 
Gavilan, which is a mighty mass of primitive rock, can be looked upon as nothing but a con¬ 
tinuation south of the same range. The chain, as stated, is not however a continuous crest, 
and occasionally the whole drops down, or is represented by low hills or a diffused disturbance 
over a great breadth of ground. 
East of the Monte Diablo range lies the valley San Joaquin, beyond which rise the Sierra 
Nevada, the summits glistening with snow, or covered with clouds. Thus in the district 
described we have enumerated, between the ocean and the Sierra, three distinct ranges of 
hills : the Santa Cruz, the Monte Diablo, and the range lying between these two, for which I 
could not ascertain that there was any distinct appellation, and which may be described under 
the term u Central” range—traverse from north to south, producing those deep longitudinal 
valleys of Santa Clara and San Joaquin, whose level is but little above that of the sea, and 
whose only outlet is by the Bay of San Francisco and the Golden Gate. 
This parallelism of hill ranges is repeated through Monterey and Santa Barbara counties, 
producing longitudinal valleys of less area than the foregoing, but resembling it, inasmuch as 
they are cut off from direct access with the ocean, an intervening chain generally preventing 
the exit of the valley streams. On account of the proximity of these ranges to each other, 
there are no large rivers in southern California—there are no navigable streams ; and on ac¬ 
count of the north and south direction of the chains, there are no rivers which run a course 
from east to west into the ocean ; every stream runs along the strike of the chains, or in the 
valley between two ranges, and rarely is it that, like the Santa Maria, it is able to force its 
way through one of the littoral ranges to reach the Pacific. From the same orographic con¬ 
formation of California, there are no estuaries on the shores ; a few headlands, the continuation 
of the chains, a few of which have been alluded to, run out into points until they are lost in 
the ocean, constitute the coast features, forming curve lines of shores facing either the north¬ 
west or southwest, (generally the former,) but which are never aided by a corresponding ridge 
on the opposite shore so as to produce a gulf or an estuary. These ranges of hills cut off the 
interior of the south of California from the coast, and have precluded the formation of gulfs, 
harbors, or deep rivers running up into the land. The south of the State cannot, therefore, 
be a commercial district, and not endowed with auriferous localities equal in value or number 
to the north, it will ever remain an agricultural region, with social habits and political 
feelings very different from the gold bearing counties. Beside the foregoing ranges, the others 
are the Santa Lucia hills, San Rafael and Santa Inez mountains. As full descriptions of these 
are given under their respective titles, it is unnecessary to anticipate. It may be said, how¬ 
ever, that the more westerly the chains lie, the more the direction varies from the meridian and 
approaches an easterly trend. The Sierras Monica and Susanna, which ought scarcely be 
classed as coast mountains, lie almost due east and west. 
The waters of the northern part of California flow southward ; those in the south, in the 
coast mountains and Tulare valley, flow northward ; and either Monterey bay or San Francisco 
3 U 
