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Show J \ [ 148] 34 so~l of remarkable fertility, the, valley _of St. Josep~ (San Jose) is 1 ca able of producing in great P.er~ect~on m~ny fr~I~s. and gr~ms w[ich do not thrive on the coast m Its 1m~ed1ate .v1c1mty .. Without taking into consideration the extraorrhnary yields .whtc~ have tl.mes occurred the fair average product of wheat lS estimated ~ some ' · · bl' h t f • 1 at fifty fold, or fifty for on.e sown. The miSSion esta IS men s o Sana Clara and San Jose, m the north .en.d of th.e -yalle.y, were for- 1 ;merly, in the prosperous days of the missions, d1stmgmshed for the superiority of their w.heat crops. . . , The slope of alluvial land contmues entirely around th.e eastern 1 shore of the bay, intersected by sma1l stream.s, and offenng some points which good landing and dee.P water, wit~ ac~vantageous positions between the sea and in tenor country, md1cate for future settlement. . . · h The strait of Carquines1 about one m1le WJde and e1g t or ten fathoms deep connects the San Pablo and Suisoon bays. Around tl1ese bays s:naller valleys open into the bo:der.ing co~n_try, and .some of the streams have a short ~a~nch navigation, whiCh serves to convey produce to the bay. ~Iss1ons and large farms ":"ere established at the head of navigatiOn on these streams, which ar.e favorable sites for. towns or villages. The country aro':nd the Smsoon bay presents smooth low ridges and rounded hi! ls, clot~ed with wild oats, and more or less openly wood.ed on theu summit.s. Approaching its northern shores from S~noma It assumes, th?ugh m a state of nature, a cultivated and beautiful appearance. Wild oats cover it in continuous fields, and herds of cattle and bands of horses are scattered o·ver low hills and partly isolated ridges, where blue mists and openings among the abruptly terminating hills indicate the neighborhood of the bay. . . . The Suisoon is connected with an expansiOn of the nver formed by. the junction .of the Sacramen~o and San Joaquin, which enter the Francisco bay m the same latitude, nearly., as .the mouth ?f. the Tagus at Lisbon. A delta of twenty-five nnles m. length, divided into islands by deep channels, co~nects the bay with t~e valley. of the San Joaquin and Sacramento, mto the mouths of whiCh the hde flows, and which enter thf bay together as one river. Such is the bay, and the proximate country and shores of the bay of San Francisco. It is not a mere indentation of the coast, but a little sea to itself, connected with the ocean by a defensible gate, opening out between seventy and eighty miles to the right and left, upon a .breadth of ten t? fifteen, deep enough for the largest ships, with bold shores smtable for .towns and settlements, and fertile adjacent country for cultivation. The head of the bay is about. forty miles from the sea, and there cqmmences its connexion with the noble valleys of the San Joaquin and Sacramento. Coast country north of the bay of San Francisco.-Between the Sacramento valley and the coast, north of the bay of San Francisco,. the country is broken into mountain ridges and rolling hills,. with many very fertile valleys, made by lakes a•d small streams. In the interior it is wooded, generally with oak, and immediately ~long the coast presents open prairie lands, among heavily timbered for- 35 [ 148] ests, having a greater variety of trees, and occasionally a larger growth than the timbered region of' the Sierra Nevada. In some parts it is e!ltirely covered, in areas of many miles, witP, a close growth of wild oats, to the exclusion of almost every other plant. In the latter part of June and beginning of July, we found here a climate sensibly different from that of the Sacra men to valley, a few miles east, being much cooler and moister. In cleu weather the mornings were like ~hose of the Ro~ky mountains in August, pieasant and cool, fo'llowmg cold cle.ar mghts. _Jn ,that part lying nearer th.e coa~t,. we ~ound the mornmgs sometimes cold, accompanied ~1th chdhng wmds; and fogs frequently came rolling up over the ndges from the sea. These sometimes rose at evening, and coriti~ ued unt~l noon of the next day. They are not dry, . but wet m~sts, lea_vmg th~ face of the co?-ntry covered as by a drizzling ram. This sometimes causes rust m wheat grown within its influence, but vegetables flourish and attain extraordinary size. L.-: I learned from Captain Smith, a resident at Bodega, that the winter, months make a delightful season-rainy days (generally of warm showers) alternating with mild and calm, pleasant weather and pure bright skies-much preferable to the summer, when the' fogs and strong northwest winds, which prevail during the greater part of the year, make the morning part of the day disagreeably cold. Owing probably to the fogs, spring is earlier along the coast than in the interior, where, during the interval between the rains the ground . be~omes very dry. Flowers ~loom in December, and by the b~gmnmg of February grass acquires a strong and luxuriant growth, and fruit trees (peach, pear, apple, &c.) are covered with blossoms. In situations immediately open to the sea the fruit ri~e~s la.te, generally at the end of August, being retarded by the chdhng mfluence of the northwest winds: a short distance inland where intervening rid ,ges obstruct these winds and shelter the fac~ of the country, there is a different climate and a remarkable difference in , the tim~ of ripening fruits; the heat of the sun has full influence on the soil, and vegetation goes rapidly to perfection. The country in July began to present the dry appearance common to all C~li~ornia ~s the sum met advances, except along the northern coast w1tJnn the mfluence of the fogs, or where the land is sheltered by forests, and in the moist valhes of streams and coves of the hilis. In some of these was an uncommonly luxuriant growth of oats, still partially green, while elsewhere they were dried up; the face of the country presenting generally a mellow and ripened appearance1 and t he small streams beginning to lose their volume, and . draw up into the hills. · Thi~ n_orthe rn part of the coast country is heavily timbered, more so as It goes north to the Oregon boundary, (42°,) with many bold streams falling directly into the sea. The country between the bays of San Francisco and Monterey.In the latter part of January, 1846, a few shrubs and flowers were already in . bloom on the sandy shore of Monterey bay (lat. 36° 4?'·). Among . th~se were the , Califo:-nia poppy, and nemophila ins~ gnu. • |
