Fåte, får, fåll, fât; mẻ, mét; pine or pine, pln; nở, nôt; on as in good ;

CALHOUN, kal-hoon', a co. in the W. part of Florida, bordering on the Gulf of Mexico. Pop. 1,377.

CALHOUN, a co. in the S. part of Mich., intersected by the Kalama zoo r. Pop. 19,162. Co. t. Marshall.

CALHOUN, a co. in the W. part of Ill., situated in the fork formed by the Mississippi and Illinois rivers. Pop. 3,231. Co. t. Guilford.

CAL-I-CUT, a seaport t. of Hindostan, in the prov. of Malabar. Lat. 11° 15′ N., Lon. 75° 50′ E. It is estimated to contain 5,000 houses. (P. C.)

CAL-I-FOR-NI-A, LOWER, a peninsula of Mexico, on the Pacific, separated from the main land by the Gulf of California.

CALIFORNIA. At the close of the war with Mexico, the United States acquired by conquest and purchase, a tract of country, for the most part arid, sterile and mountainous, covering a space of nearly 500,000 sq. miles; the greater part of which had been hitherto known as the Mexican territory of Upper California. From the western portion of this sterile region, the Congress of the U. S. in Sept., 1850, created and admitted into the American Confederacy, the 31st sovereign state, under the name of California. This state lies between 32° and 42° N. Lat.; and between 114° and 125° W. Lon.; and is bounded on the N. by Oregon territory; E. by the territories of Utah and New Mexico; S. by Old California; and W. by the Pacific. The Eastern boundary is formed by the 120th degree of W. Lon., down to the 39th degree of lat.; and to this point has the Sierra Nevada Mts. in the boundary line; but here it diverges from the mountains in a right line S.E., till it strikes the Colorado on the 35th degree of lat., whence it follows that river to the boundary of Mexico. The length of this state from N. to S. is about 700 miles, with an average breadth of from 150 to 200 miles, including an area of 188,982 sq. miles, or about 120,000,000 acres.

Capt. Wilkes computes the arable portion of this state at only about 12,000 sq. miles. This portion, though subject to great droughts, is exceedingly productive. But the state of California, despite its sterility, has already in the very few years it has belonged to the U. S., acquired a prominent place not only in the estimation of Americans, but in the eye of the world. From the sands of its barren hills and mountains, and from the beds of its Alpine torrents, are sifted and washed out annually from $75,000,000 to $100,000,000 of gold dust and ore. A commercial city has sprung up, as if by magic, whose harbor is thronged with shipping of the largest class, from Europe, Asia, and Australia; and which already numbers its population by tens of thousands. Regular lines of large steamers at stated and frequent periods depart from and arrive in its port, crowded with passengers to a degree that occurs in no line of steamers elsewhere. It holds regular and frequent intercourse with New York, by a length of voyage much greater than unites that metropolis with Europe. Besides, interior towns have sprung up, each numbering thousands of inhabitants, and communicating frequently with their

* See the report of the Secretary of the Treasury, for 1851.

ou, as in our; th, as in thin; TH, as in this; N, nearly like ng. commercial capital. But even should the mines become exhausted, or had they never existed or been discovered, yet is this state destined to play a leading part in the commerce of the Pacific Ocean, by means of its deep and capacious harbor and otherwise advantageous location. Ere these mines were dreamed of, some of our farsighted statesmen had written and spoken of the importance of San Francisco to the commerce of our Pacific border; a city, whose position and other commercial advantages, threaten to revolutionize the trade of the East, to open commerce and civilization to the isles of the sea, and the eastern coast of Asia.*

This

Bays, Rivers, &c.-San Francisco Bay, the best and most capacious harbor on the Pacific coast, is (including the two arms, San Pablo and San Francisco bay proper,) perhaps 60 or 70 miles long, and in the widest part 14 miles broad. A strait about a mile wide, passing through a range of hills or low mountains connects it with the ocean. strait has been termed not inappropriately the "Golden Gate," as it is the passage through which the multitudes from every region of the world are continually hastening, in order to gather the wealth of this new and richer El Dorado. Within the barrier of hills already alluded to, the bay divides into two parts-the one stretching to the S. about 40 miles, and the other to the N. about 25 miles. On the N. W. shore of the southern arm, or San Francisco Bay proper, stands the city of the same name. The northern arm is named San Pablo, and is connected by a strait with a small bay directly E. of it, into which the united waters of the Sacramento and San Joaquin (san ho-ah-keen') discharge themselves. This is called Suisoon Bay.

The strait that connects San Francisco Bay with the ocean, is the only channel of navigation between the interior of California and the sea. The Sacramento rises in several branches, in the mountains of the Coast Range, the Shasta and Sierra Nevada, in about 41° 30′ N. Lat., and proceeding in its course nearly directly south, receives the Feather and American rivers from the east, with many smaller branches, and joins the San Joaquin after a course of about 200 miles. The latter river rises in the Sierra Nevada in about 37° 30′ N. Lat., and running first in a S. W., and then in a direction a little N. W., receives the Mariposa, Merced, Tuolumne, Stanislaus, and Calaveras rivers, from the E., and after a course of about 200 miles, joins the Sacramento; their united waters running westwardly for about 200 miles, in a channel much interrupted by islands, empty into

*By an act of its legislature in April, 1851, California was divided into 30 counties, viz: Bute, Calaveras, Colusi, Contra-Costa, Eldorado, Klamath, Los Angeles, Marin, Mariposa, Mendocino, Monterey, Napa, Nevada, Placer, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, San Joaquin, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Shasta, Solano, Sonoma, Sutter, Ta-wal-um-ne or Tuolumne, Trinity, Yolo, and Yuba. San Jose is the present capital.

† Probably in allusion to the harbour of Constantinople, named, from its form, and from the prodigious wealth which was continually wafted into it, the "Golden Horn."

Fåte, får, fåll, fåt; mẻ, mêt: pine or pine, pin; nỏ, nôt; õõ as in good; Suisoon Bay. The Mokelumne (or Moquelumne river) empties into these at the point of junction. The Klamath river empties itself into the Pacific in the N. W. of California. Capt. Wilkes's map represents its mouth and source as in Oregon.

The principal estuaries of the Pacific on the coast of California are, Humboldt bay in the N. W., Monterey bay and the bay of de los Esteros in the W., San Pedro, San Diego and Santa Barbara bays in the S. W.

The principal lake, Lake Tulare, (too'-lah-rà,) (bulrush lake,) is described by Fremont "as a strip of water of about 70 miles in length, surrounded by low lands overgrown with rushes, and as receiving all the rivers of the southern part of the valley. In times of high water it communicates with the San Joaquin." This lake is about 150 miles S. E. of San Francisco. Kern Lake, S. of Tulare, communicates with it. The other lakes are Rhett and Deer in the N. E.; Clear Lake, about 70 miles directly N. of San Francisco; Fremont Lake, 100 miles E. of the southern point of the latter, and Owen Lake, about 70 miles E. of the N. point of Tulare Lake. These are all small, except Clear and Tulare, the former of which is about 40 miles long.

Face of the Country.—As the voyager sails along the coast of California, he looks upon a low range of mountains, which in many instances approach to the water's edge, forming a bluff, iron-bound coast; through which he enters, by a narrow strait named the Golden Gate, the bay of San Francisco. Following these low mountains on the coast north of the Golden Gate, is a broken and hilly country, to which succeeds the coast range, entering from Oregon, and extending nearly parallel to the ocean, at distances varying from 30 to 50 miles, till it reaches the 35° of N. Lat., where it unites with the Sierra Nevada, and passes into Old California. South of the Golden Gate, between the coast mountains and the coast range, are the valleys of the river San Juan, emptying into San Francisco bay, and of Buenaventura, emptying into Monterey bay. The former is 60 miles long, by 15 to 20 wide, and the most fertile in California. The mountains immediately on the coast bear various local names. Table Hill, on the N. side of the strait leading into San Francisco bay, is 2560 feet high. Mt. Diablo in the coast range, directly east of San Francisco, attains an elevation of 3,770 ft. Mt. Linn is an elevated peak of the same range, in lat. 40°, whose height has not been ascertained. Near the northern boundary of the state, in a spur of mountains running N. E. to the Sierra Nevada, is Mt. Shasta, or Shaste, the highest known peak in California, which soars to the Alpine height of 14,400 feet, and is clothed with perpetual snow. We now enter the great valley of the Sacramento and San Joaquin, which extends from N. to S. about 500 miles, with an average breadth of about 60 miles, and an elevation of only a few hundred feet above the level of the sea. This is the garden of California, and the chief source from which she must draw her agricultural supplies. Soon after we have passed the Sacramento and San Joaquin, from a base of about 500 ft. above the

ou, as in our; th, as in thin; тH, as in this; N, nearly like ng. sea, we commence the ascent of the Sierra Nevada, by a gradual slope, first passing through a region wooded to about half the mountain's height with oak, which is succeeded by a forest of gigantic pines, cedars and cypress, and which conducts us to the naked granite and perpetual snows of its summits. At the north end of the Sacramento valley is another higher valley, of about 100 miles in length, and some thousands of feet in elevation, heavily timbered, and containing arable valleys. The Sierra Nevada forms a continuation of the Cascade Range of Oregon, and extends almost directly south till they unite with the coast range in about 34° N. Lat. They form the eastern boundary of California, between 39° and 41° of N. Lat. The Emigrants' Pass, in about 39° N. Lat., is 7,200 feet high, but there are peaks in the range which reach an elevation of 15,500 ft. Some volcanoes are said to have been discovered in the Sierra Nevada. The eastern slope ascends from a base of 4,000 ft., and is much more rigorous in climate. The western slope is covered with grass at all seasons of the year, and scored with as many fertile valleys as there are streams and rivers. On this slope, too, between 37° and 40° of N. Lat., are the celebrated gold diggings, towards which the eyes of the seekers after sudden affluence have been so eagerly turned since 1848, and it is estimated will soon yield $100,000,000 annually. The gold is obtained by turning aside streams from their channels, and washing the sands; or from dry diggings either by washing or mining, or in lumps and coarse particles by pick-axes, &c. The gold found in the streams and in the dry ravines and plains, was evidently only the washings from the higher regions, and must necessarily be soon exhausted; but fortunately for the gold seekers, the auriferous quartz, probably in its original locality, has recently been discovered, and is not likely to be soon exhausted. Gold, too, has been found in the coast range, in the vicinity of San Jose and Monterey. Quicksilver mines also are known to exist of great richness, in the vicinity of the former place. Silver has been discovered in two or three localities, and lead in several places; but none of these have as yet received much attention. Iron, too, has been found recently.

Climate and Meteorology. The climate of California is much milder, even at considerable elevations, than in the same parallels on the Atlantic coast. Though many degrees above the tropics, the seasons are divided into rainy and dry, rather than into the four seasons of similar latitudes elsewhere. The rainy season lasts from December to March. In the latter part of the dry season, where there is not irrigation-as is the case mostly west of the Sacramento and San Joaquin every thing is destroyed by the drought. In Southern California, in February the grass begins to spring up, and vegetation generally to put forth. The western slope of the Sierra Nevada has a milder temperature than the valley of the Sacramento, being more sheltered by the mountains from the cold winds from their summits. At San Francisco and other parts near the

Fåte, får, fåll, fåt; mẻ, mêt; pine or pine, pin; nỏ, nôt; õõ as in good; coast, cold bleak winds, charged with fogs from the ocean, prevail during the summer, and render it really more unpleasant in climate than in the winter season, when the N. W. winds do not prevail. During 75 days that observations were kept near the Golden Gate by the Exploring Expedition, S. W. winds prevailed 44 days; N. W. 13 days; W. 4 days; S. E. 5 days; calm 5 days. These 75 days were between Aug. 18th and Oct. 31st. The mean temperature from May 27th to June 6th, averaged 61°; highest point 86°; lowest 48°. At New Helvetia, at the same time, it rose as high as 114°. At 30 miles from the coast, especially in the valley of San Juan, the climate is delightfully equable, resembling the south of Spain. The valleys of the Sacramento and San Joaquin, particularly the west side of the latter, are very hot in the dry or summer season. According to observations made by Fremont, in the San Joaquin valley, between the middle of December and the middle of June, the mean temperature at sunrise was 29°, and at sunset 52°; from the 10th to the 22d of March, 38° and 56° at sunrise and sunset. At Deer Creek, in 40° N. Lat., during 6 days between the 30th of March and 4th of April, the temperature was 48° at sunrise, 59° at 2 P. M., and 52° at sunset. At the three Buttes, in 39° N. Lat., 64° at sunrise, 90° at 2 P. M., and 80° at sunset, at an elevation of 800 ft. At the head of Kern river, in lat. 35° 30′, mean temperature between Dec. 27th and Jan. 17th, was 26° at sunrise, noon 60°, sunset 52°. Near Monterey, early in March, sunrise 44°, 2 P. M. 62°, sunset 53°; elevation 2,200 ft. Productions, Agriculture, &c.-Though so much of California, as has been observed, is unproductive, yet there is a portion of it luxuriantly fertile, but subject to the great drawback of long droughts in the autumn, when even the turf is parched to an impalpable powder. But the rains return between November and March, and restore verdure and health to vegetation. Where irrigation can be practised, the evils of the drought are compensated by abundant returns for additional labor-as the southern part has the climate and productions of Italy. Here may be cultivated the olive, the banana, the orange, the grape, pears, peaches, pomegranates, quinces, Indian corn, tobacco, and cotton. In the north wheat flourishes; and the moisture of the coast favors the potato. The fertile parts are mainly found in the bottoms of the great rivers and their affluents, and in the valleys and plains of the coast region. Over these, in their native state, is found a rich growth of wild oats. On the western slope of the Nevada, grass grows at all seasons of the year.

The forest trees of California consist mainly of oak, cypress, cedar, pine, and fir, with some sycamores, willow, cotton-wood, a peculiar species of white oak, with long acorns, (which form a staple of food with the Indians,) ash, and a remarkable tree peculiar to California called the Madrono, an evergreen 60 feet in height, and 4 feet in diameter, with a smooth reddish bark. These forests grow on the slopes of the Nevada, on the banks of the streams, and on the district