SANSALITO HARBOR.

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generally more of the rolling swell, which is sometimes rather heavy. There is almost always a leading wind, and the long and narrow entrance is entirely clear of any hidden dangers while the water is bold up to the very base of the cliffs. After you get in, the only danger to be avoided is a sunken rock, called Blossom Rock, near the south-east corner of Alcatraz, or Bird Island, bearing from it E. S. E. by compass, distant eight cables length. There is great depth of water over the whole bay. The latitude of the fort on the Presidio point is 37 deg. 48 min. 30 sec. N. Longitude, 122 deg. 27 min. 23 sec. West. Outside and bearing south 60 deg. west from the fort, and distant from it twenty-five miles, is a cluster of peaked rocks, called the Farullones. The tides here are very irregular. The usualwatering-place is at Sansalito, on the north side of the bay, where also all kinds of supplies of vegetables, fruits, &c., may be obtained.

CHAPTER V.

San Francisco-Quicksilver Mines-Castro's Interest-Means of Communication Recommended - Railroad - Canal - Magnetic Telegraphs.

YERBA BUENA, now called San Francisco, is situated on the south side of the entrance of the bay, and at the period of this visit contained about half a dozen houses, and somewhat less than one hundred inhabitants. Of course, the place must have since grown considerably, notwithstanding the migration of the population to the gold region.*

The Indians have a tradition, that at no remote period of time the Bay of San Francisco was a great inland lake or sea of fresh water, the only outlet being the Rio de los Pejanos, (Bird River), which still empties into the Bay of Monterey. General Vallejo informed me, that a very old Indian had told him that he had heard his father say, that his grandfather had travelled by land to the "Pui," or feast, at Monterey, from the north to the south side of the bay, across what is now its entrance, but which was then a mountain, and that an earthquake rent the mountain asunder, and opened the present passage into the Pacific. Of course, the level of this huge lake was much higher than the Pacific, and it must have covered the whole of the valleys leading down to it, including the vast Tularé valley and plains. All these valleys bear evidence of having once been the bed of a large body of water, which has been

*It is to be regretted, that the author's sketch of this town has been lost, or stolen.

CHANGES IN THE BAY.

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partially drained off. The former existence of such a widespreading sheet of water may still be traced, and its channel is still noticeable in examining the Tulé lakes, all of which communicate at a high stage of water with the San Joaquim. The shells and other deposits are appropriate to fresh water, and can be accounted for on no other hypothesis than the Indian tradition. There appears also to have been an upheaval of the low lands-lands now high above the valley streams being covered with a growth of young timber rapidly growing larger. In the valley of the Napa, a ranchero assured me, that some low lands on his rancho, now fit for cultivation, were, when he took possession in 1834, merely a salt water tulé marsh. A geological survey will, in my opinion, show that large bodies of land about San Francisco Bay have been reclaimed by a natural drainage caused by volcanic disruptions, and our government should institute a scientific expedition to examine into this subject, in connection with the origin of the vast deposits of gold which have lately been discovered in that neighborhood.

The usual preliminaries having been gone through with on entering port, I made arrangements in company with a brother officer to visit San José, the chief town of this district of country. We landed at Yerba Buena, and sat up, or rather stood up, all night at a ball, at which we had specimens of all the fair rancheras from around the bay, including the "contra costa," as the south-east side of it is called. I fear some good people will be scandalized, when they are informed that these gay damsels are gathered together at a ball with great ease, and think nothing of a journey of thirty or forty miles in quest of a dance.

Although we felt more like taking a nap than anything else, my comrade and myself mounted our horses early in the morning, and, after a little time spent in getting the “caballada” ahead of us, we pursued our journey.

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GREAT ARABLE LAND.

Passing near the mission of Dolores, along the Porto Suelo of San Bruno, which is a steep chain of lofty and precipitous hills, extending from the point of that name on the bay across the Peninsula to the sea, and converting the northern end of it into a natural fortification, we saw the sea and bay at once on either hand, and both so near that a thirty-two pounder could have carried to either beach. Hence the road lies across a level prairie with the bay to the east, and a chain of lofty hills called the Santa Clara Mountains, on the west or ocean side. This plain, which is more than sixty miles in length, and averages nearly thirty in width, is said to be the largest single body of good agricultural land in all California. With the exception, however, of the little "milpas," near the different ranchos, it is not cultivated, although it affords grazing to vast herds of cattle and sheep, and numerous "manadas" of brood mares and colts, and "caballadas" of tame horses, of which we saw great numbers on both sides of our road. This extensive plain is divided into ranchos of four and eight square leagues in extent, and the soil is a black loam many feet deep, as any one can see in passing the dry beds of what, in the wet season, are running streams, emptying into the bay. This great prairie is sprinkled here and there with points or islands of timber, and reminded me very strongly of similar land which I have seen in the State of Illinois.

Passing through the mission of Santa Clara, we arrived at San José about dark. Having rested a day, and looked around the straggling village of San José, which is hardly worth describing, we visited several ranchos and also the famous quicksilver mine in the vicinity.

The depôt is situated in a secluded and romantic glen, about three leagues from San José. The mine itself is on the top of a high mountain, and the ore is brought down on mules, the path being very precipitous. The ore is the red cinnabar, and the quality is extremely rich, yielding