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Show [ 148] 30 • of the Sacramento and San Joaquin va.lley.s-a bro~d belt of coun· try, and probably destined to become !1 vine growing, as well as a grain and pastoral country. • December 9.-Entered the valley of the Sacramento. Fre.sh, reen ·grass for eight or ten miles in to the valley, ca.ttle feeding g on it or lying under the shade of trees-the shade betng pleasant ~6 our ~wn fee lings. Further in, towards the middle of the· valley, . where the spring rains had not yet commenced, the countr~ looked parched and dry, the grass eaten uown by the ·cattle, whtch were quite fat and fine beef. 0 • .flscent December and January, 1845-'46, latitude 37 . Entenng the moun'tain by the Rio Reyes of TuHue lake, (Decem.ber 24,) we found its general character very similar to what It was 1n the more northern part, (latitude 39° ,), ' the timber perhaps less heavy and more open, and the mounta1n generally more ro.ugh '· extrem~ly rocky in the upper parts, but wooded up to the. grantte ndges whtch compose its 1rocky eminences. At th.e ele.vahon. of 3,500 feet the ridges were covered with oaks and ptnes Intermixed, and th~ b?ttom lands with oaks, cotton wood, and sycamores. Small vanehes of evergreen oaks. reached th~ ~bserved height. o~ 9,480 .feet, at which elevation p~nus lambert~an~, and other vanetles of pine, fir, and cypress, were large and lofty trees. During the latter part of December and first days of January the average temperature of .the oak region going to about5,000 feet above the sea, was, at sunnse, 34. o6' and' at sunset 50. 0 5'. In the piney region, between this height and 1,'100 feet, the average at sunrise was 28.0 7', and at sunset 30° 4'. The lowest observed temperature was at sunset of Janl\ary 1, when the sky had entirely cleared after a s.evere sn9w storm. ~he thermometer then stood at 8. 05, the elevation above the sea being 9 400 feet. Descending to the oak region, spring weather, rain and s~nshine, prevailed. At an elevation of 4,500 feet the temperature, at the night encampment of the 3d day of January, was 38° at sunset, and the same at sunrise, the grass green,. and growing freshly under the oaks. The snow lin.e was then at about 6,000 feet above the level of the sea. Rain had begun to fall in the valley of the San Joaquiln in this latitude (37°) on the 20th of Dece{llber, and snow at the same time upon the summit of the mountain. The mean temperature of the mountain during this ascent ~nd descent (December 24 to January 8) was 31°.6 at sunrise, 40°.4 at sunset. Descent by Mr. Kern's party, latitude 35°.30', December and January. Mr. Kern, with a detached party, ha·d crossetl the Sierra about one hundred miles further south, nearly opposite the head of the Tulare lakes, and remained encamped in a valley or cove, near the summit of the Sierra, at the head of Kern's river, from Decem- 27th to January 17th; the cove well wooded with evergreen oaks, some varieties of pine, firs and ceclars, maintaining the usual majestic growth, which characterizes the ~ne-bearing trees of the Sierra. Until the 12th of January the weather almost that of summer, when the rains commenced, which was almqst tbree weeks . later than in latitude 37°. The 17th. there was a fall of snow, washed off in the cpve by a rain in the afternoon, the high ridges 31 • [ 148] remaining covered a foot deep . . The mean temperature in the cove from Decenrber 27th to January 17th was at sunrise 26°, at noon 60° at sunset 52°. After that, snow and rain, alternated with sunshide, snow remaining on the ridges, and winter set in fairll' on all the upper half of t~e mountain. . . .flscent about latitude 41°, (Apnl an'd May,J Apnl 26, 1846- head of the lower Sacramento valley. Left the river Sacramento, going up one of the many pretty littl~ s treams tha~ flow ~nto the river around the head of the lower valley. On either stde low, steep ridges were covered along their summits with pine, and' oaks occupied the somewhat broatl bottoms of the creek. Snowy peaks made the horizon on the right, and the temperature at noon wa~ 71o but the day was still and hot. The small streams are numer'ou5 here and have much bottom land; grass and acorns abundant and both of excellent quality. Encamped in the evening in lati'tude 40° 38' 58U, elevation above the sea 1,080 ·feet, temperature at sunset 56°, \veath~r pleasant. Grisly bears numerous, four being killed by the hunters after we had encam.ped. .flpril 27.-Fourtd a goo.d way along a flat n?ge,, a pretty, open mountain stream on the nght, the country beginning to assu1ne a mountainous character, wooded with mingled oak and long leaved pine, and having a surface of scattered rocks, with" grass and · flowers. At noon, crossing a high ridge, the thermometer showed 61°. At night, at an elevation of 2,460 feet, we encamped on a , creek that went roaring into the valley; temperature at sunset ,52°. 28th, continued up the stream on \vhich we had encamped, the country rising rapidly, clothed wi1h heavy timber. On crossing one of the high ridges, snow and pinus lambert·iani appeared together. An hour before noon reached the pass in the main ridge, in an open pine forest, ~levation 4,600 fee~, therniomete~ at 5?0 , latitude near 41 o. Snow 1n patches, and deciduous oaks· m1xed with the pines. Returning upon a different nne, towards the lower valley of the Sacramento, near its head, we found in the descent a truly magnificent forest. It was composed mainly of a cypress and a lofty white cedar ( 1'/~uya gigantea) 120 to 140 feet high,) sommon in the mountains of California. All ·were tnassive trees; but the cypress was distinguished by its uniformly great bulk. None were seen so large as are to be found in the coast mo~ntains near Santa Cruz, but there was a greater number of larg·e trees-seven feet being a common dia1neter-carrying the b'ulk eighty or a hundred feet without a limb. At an elevation of four thousand six hundred feet the temperature at sunset was 48°, and at sunrise 37°. Oaks already appeared among the pines, but did not yet show a leaf. In the meauow marshes of the forest grass was green, but not yet abundant, and thf1 deer ·were poor. Descending the flanks of the mountain, which fell gradually towards the plain, the way was through the' same deep forest. At the elevation of about 3,000 feet the timber had become more open, the hills rolling, and many streams made pretty bottoms of rich gra5s; tne black ,oaks in. full and beautiful leaf \vere thickly studded among the open pines, I I I • • • |