the emigrant can direct his course to any part of the country, as interest or inclination may suggest.
Another pass is afforded by way of the Santa Fe trail near lat. 37° north; this, however, is a very difficult one for waggons, and should only be travelled on horseback.
There are said to be one or two other passes further south, in reference to which I cannot speak with certainty, but am inclined to accredit their reported existence.
CHAPTER XXIII.
Minerals. Western California. The Sacramento and contiguous regions. Principal rivers. Fish. Commercial advantages. Bay of San Francisco. Other Bays and Harbors. Description of the country; territory northwest of the Sacramento; Tlamath Mountains; California range and its vicinity; southern parts; timber, river-bottoms; Valleys of Sacramento, del Plumas, and Tulare; their extent, fertility, timber, and fruit; wild grain and clover, spontaneous; wonderful fecundity of soil, and its products; the productions, climate, rains, and dews; geological and mineralogical character; face of the country; its water; its healthiness; game; superabundance of cattle, horses, and sheep, their prices, &c.; beasts of prey; the inhabitants, who; Indians, their character and condition; Capital of the Province, with other towns; advantages of San Francisco; inland settlements; foreigners and Mexicans; Government; its full military strength. Remarks.
IN the preceding chapter the reader must have acquired some tangible idea of the true condition of Eastern California, with all its varied beauties and deformities; its Edens and wastes of desolation; its enchantments, and scenes of awe and terrific grandeur.
To have treated the subject more in extenso, would have trespassed upon prescribed brevity; yet, doubtless, many will regret my having said so little relative to the mineralogical character and resources of that country. The truth is, comparatively little is known upon this important matter. Were I to give ear to common report, I would say there are both gold and silver, with copper, lead, and iron. But such stories are not always to be credited unless they come in a credible shape.
However, it is very probable these metals do exist in various parts; and certain it is that immense beds of coal and rock-salt are afforded, with large quantities of gypsum, the truth of which is placed beyond doubt by an accumulation of testimony. With these few remarks I turn from the subject, and bring before the reader another and more interesting topic.
Following the only practicable waggon route from the U. S. to Western California, via South Pass, —thence, after bearing northwest some forty miles, by a long sweep southward around the Sierra Nevada to the Rio Sacrimento, —the emigrant is taken through a succession of mountains. hills, plains, and valleys, furrowed by frequent affluents from the north; — now, sterile wastes of intervening sand; now, pleasant spreads of arable prairies;
