are many fertile valleys, several high mountains, and some springs and lakes; but toward the central, southern, and eastern parts of the county are vast sand deserts, as far as the eye can reach without a green shrub, tree, or hill to break the monotony. No vegetable nor animal life is found in these wastes, except once in a while a few tufts of bunch grass; even the horned toad cannot find food for sustenance in these regions. Here the dreaded sand-storms sometimes overtake the forlorn traveller, and the dreariness of the dry lakes and the solitude of Death valley strike awe to the heart of the "prospecter," and the enchanting illusions of the mirage draw his feet toward fancied scenes of pleasure and hope, only to be confounded and wrecked upon the burning sands of the desert.

The Sierra Nevada mountains, so formidable in the northern end of the State, are broken and thrown about in fragments in this section; so that, in San Bernardino county, they are entirely lost: so, too, the great valleys of San Joaquin and Tulare are broken up before they reach this county, which, in its physical character, is entirely different from any other section of the State.

The climate of the county is summer perpetually. Throughout the northern and western part of the county rains fall through the months of what is winter at the East, although not to any extent; but toward the southeastern end, adjoining Arizona, no rain falls in winter, and a few showers in July and August, making about three inches of rain, is all the rain that falls during the whole year. The heat of summer in this quarter is very great.

Railroads projected to run through the San Joaquin valley, and also from San Diego, will pass through this

county; and at a point near Fort Mohave, where the States of California and Nevada and the Territory of Arizona join, will cross the river Colorado, and connect with roads through Arizona, New Mexico, and the Atlantic seaboard. These roads will develop the resources and wonders of this county.

All the semi-tropical and most of the tropical fruits will grow in this section. The lemon, fig, mulberry, almond, walnut, olive, and orange are all cultivated successfully; and notwithstanding the broad, dry lakes, ashy and volcanic beds, and sandy deserts, there are vast areas of fertile and most productive land still uninhabited.

CHAPTER XXX.

Mountain counties-Area, resources, climate, and populationInyo-Mono- Mariposa-Tuolumne-Calaveras-Amador-Alpine-El Dorado-Placer-Nevada-Sierra-Plumas-Lassen.

TURNING northward from the Colorado river and the deserts of San Bernardino county, and following the ridge of the Sierra Nevada mountains to the Oregon State line, is found that range of counties embracing the greater part of the Sierras, with their wonderful forest giants, lofty mountains, and magnificent waterfalls; here, too, are the great treasure vaults of the Golden State, with representatives of every race and kindred of man bowing to and knocking at their doors. This chain of counties is known as the

MOUNTAIN COUNTIES.

Some years ago, when the placer mines of some of these counties became exhausted, the miners abandoned them and sought the valley counties as a place of permanent abode. Within a more recent period, the great capacity of these mountain regions for producing grain, vegetables, and fruit has been ascertained: particularly have they become celebrated for grape-growing, and for producing the finest wines in California. Nearly every variety of fruit, including the orange, olive, lemon, and fig, grow in most of these counties, and orchards, vines, and gardens now bloom. upon the ruins of the early miner's temporary home along the foot-hills and gulches of the western slope of the Sierras. For diversified agriculture and the far

mer's home, these mountain counties, generally well wooded, with pure water and pure air, are much preferable to the low and flat valley regions; and, although it is but a very few years since any attention was first paid to agriculture in this section, the material made is most encouraging.

progress

INYO. The county of Inyo, the most southern of the mountain counties, is bounded north by Mono, northeast by the State of Nevada, southeast by San Bernardino, and west by Fresno and Tulare. The area of this county is 4,680 square miles-equal to the area of the State of Connecticut, and would make three States of the size of the State of Rhode Island, leaving 768 square miles. The whole of this county lies east of the Sierra Nevada mountains. The surface is rugged, and interspersed with elevated mountains, lakes, valleys, and forests. The loftiest mountains in the State are in this county. The climate is mild: snow falls upon the mountain ranges in winter, but it is never very cold, and throughout the whole year sheep, cattle, and horses graze upon the hillsides and valleys. There is but little rainfall, and the summers are generally very warm. In the region about Owens lake and Owens river there is a considerable area of the most fertile land in California, and many small valleys of great richness throughout the county, many of which are cultivated with great profit. There are some forest trees upon the mountains and hill-sides, but a large area of the eastern portion of the county is destitute of trees, and is but a sandy desert. Springs of salt, sulphur, alkaline, soda, and poison are found; and mines of gold, silver, tin, lead, and copper, of great richness, exist. Lead is ex

tensively mined, and veins of quartz, rich in free gold, are worked with great profit. The remoteness of the county has, so far, much retarded its development. Mining, grazing, and agriculture are the chief resources of this section. Grain, vegetables, and fruit, including grapes, oranges, lemons, figs, and olives, grow, and the mulberry thrives well.

The whole population of the county is but 1,956; of whom 1,104 are native Americans and 792 are of foreign birth. Independence, the county-seat, has a population of 400. Cerro Gordo, Bend City, Kearsarge, Lone Pine, and Lake City are small towns in the county. It was in this county, in the vicinity of Lone Pine, that the severest earthquake ever experienced in the United States occurred, in March, 1872, as described in a preceding chapter.

MONO. The next county northward is Mono. Like Inyo, it lies entirely east of the Sierras, and these two counties are the only ones in the State east of that chain of mountains. Mono runs along the Sierras for a distance of 170 miles, and is about 40 miles in width, but growing narrow toward its northern end. The area of this county is 4,176 square miles-double the size of the State of Delaware, and more than three times as large as the State of Rhode Island. It has the smallest population of any county in the State-430; of whom 305 are native Americans and 125 are of foreign birth.

The remoteness of this section from markets and the lack of means of transportation, more than the want of natural resources, have retarded the progress of this county. The surface of Mono is rugged and generally well wooded, particularly upon its western side. Owens