WITH THE CHARACTERS OF EACH DEPOSIT. 
109 
but unsteadily, owing to the insufficient supply. During its combustion a distinct gurgling 
sound was heard, noticeable twenty yards off, showing that the superficial spring was in com¬ 
munication with underground chambers, partly filled with air and partly with fluid, through 
which the gas, bubbling in its passage through to the external air, produced those gurgling 
noises. In this well the bitumen appeared to have varying levels ; thus, upon one day it was 
found within three inches of the edge of the well; in visiting two days afterwards it was found 
five inches lower down. Probably the gaseous pressure of the lower chamber made the fluid 
assume a higher level. These springs, four in number, are all found on the north side of the 
creek; on the south side the same sandstone rises in a hill nearly 400 feet high, at the base of 
which the creek cuts a channel 40 feet long, 20 feet deep, and 6 feet wide, forming a natural 
lock. Still further to the north, in the dry bed of a small creek, a large accumulation of solid 
asphalt is found, in places 4 feet in depth by 12 feet wide. On following these up 120 paces, 
the upper limit was reached, but no spring or well appeared. A thin shelf of sandstone stretched 
from this to the creek; on following the exposed edges of which, the bitumen was observed 
to ooze from between the lamina of deposition of the rock, which here is of a darker tint than 
the beds higher up or lower down. There is no tilt or apparent rupture of the strata at this 
point, nor any evidence of igneous rock in the vicinity. The whole area of the surface occupied 
by the spring and overflowed by the deposits might be about thirty acres. The springs are 
collected together in an area of 200 yards, close to the road and the creek. 
3. Bitumen of Napoma ranch .—This ranch is built upon a terrace of white sand, from 12 to 
15 feet deep, below which is the white clay rock, a stratum superior to that described as the 
asphaltic rock of San Luis valley. Trappean rock is found northeast of the ranch, about 500 
yards distant, toward the foot hills of the Coast Range. The overflow of asphalt is very 
limited; there are no distinct wells or springs, the mineral appearing to be forced up through 
the seams of the strata. The strata dip southwest. 
4. Bitumen of La Purissima .—Evidences of this deposit were found in the low range which 
divides the valley of La Purissima from that of Santa Inez. The wagon road to Santa Barbara 
crosses these hills, which are all tertiary strata. On the Santa Inez valley slope of these strata 
the white argillite was found. In these were found the minute vertebrate casts alluded to 
in describing the argillite, which contains the casts of area obispoensis. 
These layers were of a light fawn color ; lower down they were blackish, and had a bitu¬ 
minous odor. Thin crusts of bitumen lay between the layers, and where the rocks were fissured 
they were cemented together by the asphalt. These dark layers contain the impressions of the 
fish skeletons equally with the fawn colored layers. Although no distinct deposit of bitumen 
was found here, yet it is highly probable, had time been devoted to it, that it would have been 
found in this locality. 
5. The bitumen of Santa Barbara. —This bed is one of the most extensive and best defined in 
the State, lying 6 miles west of the town of Santa Barbara, among the low hills along shore. 
The terrace land of the shore further west has here almost disappeared, and in its place are low, 
flat-topped hills, or swelling land, forming a small terrace at the shore edge, with vertical cliffs 
70 feet high, at the foot of which is the sea beach. Along this cliff, for 1^ mile to the west, 
the asphalt may be traced. Eight distinct veins are found to pass up and overflow above, so 
as to form a coating of solid bitumen on the surface of the terraces, in places 8 feet deep. Occa¬ 
sionally grass grows over it, owing to a slight sprinkling of clay overlying the bitumen ; but 
in most places the bitumen is uncovered, and destitute of vegetation on its surface. Several 
