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Show ao VALLEYS OF CALIFORNIA. One hundred . miles North of the Bay, and at about an equal d(stance fl'Om the Sacramento Valley and the coast, is the Great Lake, which is, in length ftom North io South, sixty miles, and fifteet1 in width. It is said to be a beautiful, clear sheet of water, surrounded by a belt of fine alluvial prairie, which also, is encircled by a wall of high Mountains, covered in many places, with groves of Red Wood and Oak, and giving rise to numerous I'ivulets, which meander across the plain, and empty into the Lake.This is perhaps, the most beautiful, romantic, and picturesque portion of the Province; but its very secluded situation, having, as far· as has yet been learned, no good natural communication with the surrounding country, renders it less valuable. North of the Great Lake, the country is, as far as the Clamuth Valley, little else thau a vast cluster of mountains; which, connected by the Sacra· mento Hills, join with the spurs of the California Mountains, and form the Northern boundary to the habitable portion of the Province. The Southern arm of the Bay of San Francisco, is surrounded by a belt of levelland; which, on the North side, is six or eight miles in width, and very fertile. Francisco or Yerba Buena is a small town, situated on the point of land South of the entrance of the Bay, and has a popualtion of about two hundred.The land upon which it is built, rises gradually one mile from the Bay, and descends gradually the same distance, to the Ocean; and its situation, for a commercial town, is generally considered to be the best, and most advantageous, in California. The country South of the Bay, and between the St. Wakine and the coast, is also diversified with mountains and valleys. The mountains are high and some of them are barren. The valleysare fertile, from three to four miles wide, and from forty to fifty long. Their course is from South East to North West; and the streams, by which they are watered, empty into the Bay. Furthe1· South, the sh'eams rising in the California Mountains, South of the head of ~he St. Wakine, run West, and empty into the O~ean .. They have r1ch valleys four and five miles in width, covered with grass and clov~r, and separted by high mountains; s;ome of which are covered wtth forests of Red Wood and scattering Oaks, and o~.hers ~re barren. Among the barren mountains, in many places stlver 1s found in abundance; but little or no attention has ever been paid to it, and none of the mines have yet been worked. The .. , 1 CAPITOL-SOUTHERN VALLEYS. 81 Ore is said to be of good quality, and easily obtained. This part of the territory is well watered, and affords some good sites for machinery. MonteRey, the Capitol of the Province, is situated at the termina· tioo of one of these valleys, near the mouth of a small river, and on the bay of Monte Rey, an inlet affording a harbor for shipping, but too much exposed to the Sea, to be a good and safe one. The town is small, containing only a population of about three hundred pe 1·sons; and is built principally of dobies. Forty miles North East from Monte Rev, there is a bituminot:Is, or Tar Spring, oozing out from the foot of a mountain, and cove ring several a~ res of ground. This bitumen or mineral Tar, is said to answer well, all the pur· poses for which common Tar is used : it is inflammable, and becomes hard by exposure to tho atmosphere. ' South fl'Om MonteRey, for several hundred miles, there are no valleys of considerable size, or country fit fot· cultivation; being a succession of high mountains, as far as Santa Barbara. Timber is scarce in this mountainous district, but it is, nevertheless, considered valuable for grazing; being covered with an abundance of oats, and various kinds of nutricious grass. At Santa Barbara, there is a fine valley, about five miles in width, and sixty in length. Immediately South of this valley, and separated from it by a moun· tain, is the lower Pueblo Valley, of about the same size. These valleys have a black alluvial soil, and are both traversed by small rivers, rising in the mountains to the East, flowing to the West, and emptying into the Ocean. They have numerous small tributaries, which arise in the bordering mountains, and empty from either side. The g1·eat objection to this portion of the country is that it is almost entirely destitute af timber. Gold is found in con3iderable quantities, in the upper part of the Pueblo Valley; yet the inconvenience of water, renders the working of the mines less profitable. A company was formed, however, about the time of our leaving the country, to engage in this business. The Pueblo, and Santa Barbara, are both towns . of considerable size; containing each, probably, a population of about two thousand. They are situated about twenty miles ft·orn the sea shore, and the inhabitants are en· gaged in stock raising, and the cultivation of the vine. There is anchorage for shipping, at the Western terminatioq ,of these valleys. The Southern portion of the Province of California, called ~ow- 11 |