The San Lorenzo, a beautiful stream of fresh water, which in its course affords motive power to numerous factories erected along its banks, passes through the town of Santa Cruz, into the bay of Monterey.

This harbor is small, but has twenty-four feet of water at low tide, with good anchorage, and is well sheltered except from the southwest, which makes it dangerous to enter or leave during the prevalence of winds from that quarter.

It is in contemplation to erect a breakwater, to protect this exposed portion. The officers of the United States coast survey have made several examinations of the locality for this purpose. It has been suggested that a wall, extending from Seal Rock point for two thousand feet, eastward, across the bay of Monterey, and a few feet above high water-mark, would make this a safe resort for vessels during the southerly gales, so dangerous along the coast, and from which there is no place of shelter at present. The erection of a light on Seal Rock point, or some other suitable place in the vicinity, has become a necessity, in consequence of the increasing importance of the trade of Santa Cruz-second only to that of San Francisco.

HALF MOON BAY.

This bay is in San Mateo county, forty-six miles south of San Francisco. It is of little importance as a harbor, but is a most convenient point for shipping grain, produce, and lumber, from that portion of the coast to San Francisco. Spanish town, quite a thriving place, is located at the landing on this bay.

DRAKE'S BAY.

Drake's bay is in Marin county, south of Point Reyes, and thirty miles north of the Golden Gate. It is of no importance, except as being the place where the great English navigator, whose name it bears, landed. It is sometimes called Jack's harbor, a name given to it by the fishermen, who resort there to follow their vocation.

TOMALES BAY.

This bay is forty-five miles north of San Francisco, in Marin county, latitude 38° 15'. It is formed by an inlet of the Pacific ocean, which here penetrates the Coast Range about sixteen miles, nearly to the center of Marin county, averaging about a mile and a quarter wide for about twelve miles from the entrance, which is less than half a mile wide. There is a bar at the mouth of this entrance, having eleven feet of water at low tide.

It is perfectly land-locked, and sheltered from all winds. It has two small islands about three miles from the entrance, about two acres in extent, which are covered with verdure. Its safety, and the beauty of the surrounding scenery, makes it a sort of miniature copy of the bay of San Francisco.

The surrounding country is famous for its agricultural products, particularly butter, of which article Marin produces more than any other county in the State.

The lands around this beautiful little bay are high, but gently undulating in outline. The hills, being covered with grass and wild oats, afford pasturage for extensive flocks and herds.

Preston's point, on the east side of the bay, and about three miles from its entrance, named in honor of R. J. Preston, the pioneer settler in the district, is destined to become the site of an important agricultural trade. There is a good wharf here, eleven feet of water alongside, where there is generally quite a fleet of schooners, loading produce for the San Francisco market, this being the most convenient shipping port for Bloomfield, distant only nine miles, and for a number of villages scattered throughout this section of the county. Olema, one of the most thriving towns in the county, is located immediately at the head of this bay. Four miles from its south-east shore, on the banks of a beautiful stream of water-the San Lorenzo, which flows from Mount Tamelpais-is located the Pioneer paper-mill of California.

BODEGA BAY.

This harbor is formed by a narrow spit of land, about two miles in length, which projects from the south of Bodega Head and extends to within three miles of the spit which forms the western side of Tomales bay. The two bays are reached through the same entrance, between these spits. It is very much smaller, and scarcely as well sheltered as Tomales bay, being open to the southerly gales, which sometimes blow with considerable violence during the fall. It has but nine feet of water at low tide. The Russians selected the point of land forming the western side of this harbor for their settlement, which they maintained from 1812 to 1841.

A considerable trade is carried on in the shipment of produce, there being good anchorage and wharf accomodation for vessels engaged in the business. The town of Bodega is located at the head of this bay about fifty miles distant from San Francisco.

HUMBOLDT BAY.

Humboldt bay is two hundred and twenty-three miles north of San Francisco, in Humboldt county, latitude 40°44'. It is a securely landlocked harbor-the best on the northern coast-formed by two densely timbered peninsulas, which enclose a very handsome bay, about twelve miles in length, and from two to five miles in width, its shores thickly timbered with magnificent pine and redwood, to the water's edge. The entrance to this bay is about a quarter of a mile wide, with eighteen feet of water at low tide. It is somewhat difficult for sailing vessels to make this entrance at certain seasons, but there are powerful tow boats belonging to the port which are always on hand when required. The upper portion of this bay is quite shallow, but there is plenty of water and good anchorage along the lower portions. There is an extensive trade in lumber, salmon, and produce carried on here, as well as considerable ship building.

The Elk and Jacoby rivers passing through a good agricultural country, empty into this bay, and there are several good roads connecting it with the interior. Eureka, the county seat, and Arcata, are located on the shores of the bay. The Eel river settlement is about forty miles distant, inland. This important harbor was not discovered until 1850, when a party of prospectors, among whom was a lumberman from New Brunswick, while searching for gold, saw it, and perceiving the advantages it presented for obtaining and shipping lumber, they abandoned gold hunting, and set to work cutting timber. The first log was cut in July, 1850; since that time, 400,000,000 feet have been sent to market, vessels loading in the bay for the Sandwich Islands, China, Australia, and Central America, as well as for San Francisco.

TRINIDAD BAY.

Trinidad bay is an open roadstead, sheltered to some extent from the north by a point of land extending at an acute angle about a mile to the south. The town of Trinidad is located at the base of this point. It is in Klamath county, two hundred and thirty-nine miles north of San Francisco, in latitude 41°03'. It has better anchorage and deeper water than Crescent City, from which it is distant about forty miles. The principal trade of the place is in lumber of which the county produces large quantities, most of it being shipped from this point.

CRESCENT CITY HARDOR.

This is an open roadstead, in Del Norte county, two hundred and eighty miles north of San Francisco, in latitude 41°30', near the

extreme northern boundary of the State. The harbor is formed by Point St. George, a bold headland projecting nearly a mile to the west, on the south of which a plain about twenty miles in length, and from six to seven miles in width, forms the coast line. Crescent City, the county seat, is located on the south of this plain. A considerable trade is carried on with the mining districts in the mountains adjoining, in both Oregon and California, this being the nearest place for obtaining supplies.

The mountain regions, comprising about nine tenths of the county, also produce large quantities of redwood, pine, and fir, that make excellent timber, which is shipped from this port in considerable quantities. There are good wharf accomodations for vessels to load, but the harbor being exposed to the fury of the southwesterly gales, it is not safe when the wind blows from that quarter. In 1862, a violent gale destroyed nearly four hundred feet of the wharf, which was, at that time, thirteen hundred feet in length. It has been greatly extended and improved since.

The anchorage is indifferent, and the water along the coast, south of the point, so shallow that vessels drawing twelve feet of water are not safe within half a mile of the shore, except at the wharves in front of Crescent City.

IMPROVEMENTS TO BE MADE.

The subject of improving the harbors along the coast bounding this State, and establishing places of refuge in which the large fleet of steamers and sailing vessels engaged in the coasting trade can find shelter in emergencies, appears to be attracting the attention of the Federal government. Several examinations have recently been made by officers especially detailed for this purpose. In view of the rapidly expanding foreign and domestic commerce of California, which is exceeded by that of few States in the Union at present, it would appear to be the duty of the government, independent of all political considerations, to have everything done that is necessary to afford security or facilities to the shipping engaged in this commerce. It is urged by those most interested in this matter, that lights are required at Point Reyes, at Santa Cruz, and at San Pedro, and that breakwaters be built on the north of Monterey bay, and at the mouth of the harbor of San Pedro. From the outline of the coast harbors given in the foregoing, the necessity for these improvements appears obvious.

ISLANDS ON THE COAST OF CALIFORNIA.

The Farralones consist of two clusters, comprising seven islands, the nearest of which is about twenty miles west from the Golden Gate. They are all utterly destitute of soil and vegetation, consisting of bare, rugged rocks, which are the resort of immense numbers of sealions, and of myriads of birds, the eggs of which at one time were a source of great profit to those who collected them. As many as

25,000 dozen were collected in some seasons lasting from the middle of May until the middle of June, which sold at from thirty to fifty cents per dozen. The southernmost of the group is the largest, containing about two acres, and is also the nearest to the coast. On this there is a first-class lighthouse, to warn the mariner of the dangers of the locality.

No water fit for drinking, except such as was collected from rains and fogs, was obtainable on any of these islands until 1867, when some of the egg-gatherers discovered a spring on the main island, within a half-mile of the lighthouse. The water from this spring, which is of a pale amber color, and pleasant to the taste, possesses important medicinal qualities: by analysis, it is found to contain chlorides of sodium, lime, and magnesia, with traces of sulphate of ammonium and free hydrochloric acid.

There are no other islands on the coast of California north of Point Concepcion. South of that headland, there are two groups, the most northerly consisting of the islands of San Miguel, on the west; Santa Rosa, in the center; and Santa Cruz, on the east. They are nearly in a line, parallel with, and about twenty miles distant from the mainland, in Santa Barbara county, and form the southern boundary of the Santa Barbara channel.

Santa Cruz, the largest of this group, is twenty-one miles in length, and four miles wide, and has a rugged surface. The Messrs. Barron, of San Francisco, who own this island, graze about thirty thousand sheep upon it.

Santa Rosa is fifteen miles in length, and nearly ten miles wide. Its surface is tolerably level, and produces a thick crop of coarse grass and low bushes; but its steep, rugged sides, which rise nearly two hundred feet almost perpendicularly, afford no good landing place. This island was once inhabited by a large tribe of Indians, who, until 1840, furnished the currency for all the tribes along that section of the coast, and from the Tulare valley. This currency was called ponga,